PHNOM PENH (AFP) - US senators want to ban Cambodian officials tied to illegal logging from entering the United States.
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The move was sparked by a recent report from the forestry watchdog Global Witness, which accuses top officials, including relatives of Prime Minister Hun Sen, of stripping the country's timber.
The Senate appropriations committee, in a document dated July 10, has urged US President George W. Bush to exercise Presidential Proclamation 7750, "to prohibit corrupt Cambodian officials identified in the June 2007 Global Witness report... from entering the United States."
The proclamation, signed by Bush in 2004, allows Washington to prevent foreigners "engaged in or benefiting from corruption" from entering the US.
"The committee encourages other countries, particularly in Europe and Asia, to implement similar restrictions," said the Senate document, which was seen by AFP Thursday.
The document, which contains proposals for all foreign operations, helps determine US foreign aid for the coming year.
"This US Congress bill sends a clear message to corrupt governments around the world that stripping a nation's natural resources for personal gain is no longer internationally acceptable," said Global Witness Director Simon Taylor.
"It is now up to all other donor countries that profess an interest in the welfare of the Cambodian people to impose their own sanctions on those kleptocrats who are destroying Cambodia's prospects for sustainable development."
London-based Global Witness's caustic report, titled "Cambodia's Family Trees," accused a "kleptocratic" elite of looting Cambodia's forests.
It named several figures close to Hun Sen, including Forest Administration Director General Ty Sokhun and Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun, as being directly involved.
In response, an outraged government banned the Global Witness report from Cambodia and continues to dismiss its allegations.
Chan Sarun was quoted by local media Thursday as saying the US would not be so stupid as to ban Cambodian officials because Global Witness's accusations were "groundless."
The US embassy in Cambodia acknowledges that illegal logging remains a problem but has defended the government, saying many officials are working to stop this activity.
Sarith's quote:
We should not allow these people entering to U.S. because their evil money were from
the blood and the sweat of Cambodian people.
Date: 07/31/2007
Url:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20 ....
Author: Yahoo news
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