Monday, 26 January 2009

FM to visit Thais jailed of terrorism charge in Khmer prison

By The Nation

Phnom Penh--Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya arrived here this evening to begin a two-day visit focusing on revitalizing Thai-Cambodian relations.

He will have a full program tomorrow with a scheduled bilateral discussion with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in the morning.

After the discussion, he will meet the two Thai religious teachers at the Phnom Penh Prison who were arrested in 2003 and now are serving a life sentence on terrorist charges.

Kasit plans to seek royal pardons for Muhammad Yalaluding and Abdul Azi Haji Chiming in the bilateral talks. The foreign minister will be joined by their spouses from Yala.

The Thai Embassy here has already requested a pardon from Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni but it will take time.

On Monday, he will pay several courtesy calls to Cambodian leaders including Prime Minister Hun Sen (Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen) and presidents of both upper and lower houses, Same dech Akka Moha Thamma Pothisal Chea Sim and Samdech Akka Moha Ponchea Chakrei Heng Samrin respectively.

The familiarization trip is aimed at restoring the Thai-Cambodian friendship which dated back several centuries. The ties have been soured due to the disagreement over the 7th century Hindu temple known as Phra Viharn in Thai or Preah Vihear in Cambodian.

Kasit will have an audience with King Sihanomuni tomorrow's afternoon and later on makes a sightseeing tour of Silver Pagoda inside the Royal Palace.

Trade between the two countries amounted to US$1.8 billion last year from US$1.4 billion in 2007.

From 1986-2008, Thailand has provided a grant of 1.2 billion baht and a soft loan totaled 2.2 billion baht for infrastructural development projects. Other assistances also include technical cooperation and training in various fields.

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