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Siege in Siem Reap
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desultude



Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:08 am    Post subject: Siege in Siem Reap Reply with quote

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050616/ap_on_re_as/cambodia_hostages
Quote:
Masked Men Take Dozens Hostage in Cambodia
32 minutes ago

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Six masked gunmen stormed an international school in Cambodia on Thursday, seizing dozens of young children from several countries, and witnesses reported shots being fired at the building.

The hostage crisis unfolded at Cambodia's tourism hub of Siem Reap, near it famed Angkor temples and home to several expatriates, and quickly drew concern from governments around the region amid reports of up to 15 nationalities among the hostages.

The attackers' motives were not immediately clear.


Know any teachers in Siem Reap? Its been one of my fantasies to go teach there. I wonder if they are Khmer Rouge.
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Teufelswacht



Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Location: Land Of The Not Quite Right

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks like it's over.

Quote:
Cambodian Hostage Crisis Is Over; One Child Dies, AFP Reports

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- One child died when police stormed an international school in Siem Reap near Angkor Wat in Cambodia where gunmen were holding a class full of foreigners, AFP said.

The remaining children were freed, AFP said, citing police.

The gunmen seized the class, including an unknown number of Japanese children, earlier today, Japan's government spokesman, Hiroyuki Hosoda, said earlier.

The gunmen seized a teacher and 29 pupils from Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and the U.S., Reuters reported, citing a resident in the area who has seen a list of the hostages. The men originally seized two classes before releasing one group.

The temples of Angkor Wat are a popular tourist destination in Cambodia, where kidnappings for ransom are common. Many people carry weapons after decades of invasions, civil war and the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.

Reuters and other reports didn't say whether the hostages include Cambodian pupils.



http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aw.YfywvoaAg&refer=europe
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desultude



Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The seige may be over, but I am willing to bet something serious is brewing down there. It will be sad but interesting to watch things develop. Those men probably represented a group, my guess the Khmer Rouge, given the part of the country, and Han Sen (sp?) the president
(or dictator or Vietnam's puppet) will not sit by.

I see on the news that the Cambodian government is blaming it on drug using youths. Right. I guess it is possible. Rolling Eyes
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Teufelswacht



Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Location: Land Of The Not Quite Right

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

desultude wrote:
The seige may be over, but I am willing to bet something serious is brewing down there. It will be sad but interesting to watch things develop. Those men probably represented a group, my guess the Khmer Rouge, given the part of the country, and Han Sen (sp?) the president
(or dictator or Vietnam's puppet) will not sit by.

I see on the news that the Cambodian government is blaming it on drug using youths. Right. I guess it is possible. Rolling Eyes



I really don't know much about modern day Cambodia/Kampuchea (sp?). You could be right. This appears to be a pretty aggressive move by some group. Just what the world needs - another hot spot! I'm still waiting for the government - Muslim conflict to intensify in southern Thailand. From now on I guess I'll keep an eye out for any articles about this area when I scan the news.
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rapier



Joined: 16 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Khmer rouge never really went away. For those of you that think the killing fields was a thing of the past, let me reassure you it could happen again.

There was never any justice handed out to the perpetrators of that genocide... No trials, truth or reconciliation. Former khmer rouge murderers are still at large in the country, many of them have been given good government jobs.
Just visit there..you'll know what I mean. Corruption is rife..the poor have nothing, and the few rich have everything.

That area around Siem reap and the northwest of the country is a stronghold of Khmer rouge support- its the place where they retreated to when the vietnamese sorted them out.
Although I am fairly positive now that Cambodia has opened up and is winning new money from tourism, there'll be no going back to the bad old days; guess the new prosperity is not happening quick enough for some though.

Cambodia Rocks. ! its definitely themost interesting country in SE Asia. loved it.
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JacktheCat



Joined: 08 May 2004

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

From the latest reports, it sounds like they weren't terrorist at all, but just common criminals. Actually, they were the school's security guards looking to make some extra cash off the children's "rich" foreign parents.

And they shot the 3-year old Canadian kid in cold blood because the police weren't meeting their demands.

I hope inmates in Cambodian prisons treat child killers the same as they do in America.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050616/ap_on_re_as/cambodia_hostages;_ylt=AtMHW0S6BdWL3fnBzx7CtTys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2MTQ3MTFjBHNlYwN0cw--
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guangho



Joined: 19 Jan 2005
Location: a spot full of deception, stupidity, and public micturation and thus unfit for longterm residency

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's interesting that they considered guns and grenades more valuable than $30,000- about 120 million riels. I honestly think they were in this for the thrill of killing, not the money.
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dulouz



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BBC says they wanted $1000.
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guangho



Joined: 19 Jan 2005
Location: a spot full of deception, stupidity, and public micturation and thus unfit for longterm residency

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The men originally took about 70 people hostage but later released 30 of them, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said. Three of the hostages were teachers, according to Prak Chanthoeum, who said that the attackers "were armed with shotguns" and had demanded $1,000, six AK-47 assault rifles, six shotguns, B-40 grenade launchers, hand grenades and a car.

He later said $30,000 and a van were given to the hostage takers, but they still refused to free the hostages and continued to demand guns and grenades.

(yahoo news)
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thorin



Joined: 14 Apr 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love Cambodia but life is cheap there. You can have anyone's head for $100 or buy an AK47 for $50 and do the job yourself. Nobody there speaks of the Khmer Rouge anymore. It's the Cambodian People's Party now.
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FUBAR



Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: The Y.C.

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, the real reason for the seige was revenge on a South Korean man and his family.

Quote:
The alleged gang leader said he initially planned the raid as revenge against a South Korean man who employed him to drive his two children to the school, said Prak Chanthoeun, deputy commander of military police in Siem Reap province.

The suspect said his employer recently got angry with him and slapped his face, causing him to quit his job and return to his hometown in the central province of Kandal.

��Every day, he thought about taking revenge against the South Koreans. So he bought a pistol, then called three friends from his home area,�� said Prak Chanthoeun.

He then ��proposed that they go to the school, find the two Korean children and kill them. But when they arrived there, they didn't see the Korean children,�� he said.



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050617.wcambod0617/BNStory/Front/
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guangho



Joined: 19 Jan 2005
Location: a spot full of deception, stupidity, and public micturation and thus unfit for longterm residency

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

FUBAR wrote:
Well, the real reason for the seige was revenge on a South Korean man and his family.

Quote:
The alleged gang leader said he initially planned the raid as revenge against a South Korean man who employed him to drive his two children to the school, said Prak Chanthoeun, deputy commander of military police in Siem Reap province.

The suspect said his employer recently got angry with him and slapped his face, causing him to quit his job and return to his hometown in the central province of Kandal.

��Every day, he thought about taking revenge against the South Koreans. So he bought a pistol, then called three friends from his home area,�� said Prak Chanthoeun.

He then ��proposed that they go to the school, find the two Korean children and kill them. But when they arrived there, they didn't see the Korean children,�� he said.



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050617.wcambod0617/BNStory/Front/


I love that aspect of Koreans. Their warm open-minded nature helps them make friends where ever they go.
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The Great Wall of Whiner



Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Middle Land

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I love that aspect of Koreans. Their warm open-minded nature helps them make friends where ever they go.


Not only that, but a kid was killed in the Korean kids' place. I bet the Korean guy will feel sheepish around Canadians for years to come.
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rapier



Joined: 16 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 6:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Koreans are notorious in SE Asia for their bad manners and obnoxious ways. As tourists, they march everywhere in large gangs, complaining and whining at everything. They probably go home with more stress than they first went on holiday with.

Has the real reason behind the siege been reported in korean newspapers?
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rapier



Joined: 16 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thorin wrote:
I love Cambodia but life is cheap there. You can have anyone's head for $100 or buy an AK47 for $50 and do the job yourself. Nobody there speaks of the Khmer Rouge anymore. It's the Cambodian People's Party now.


Khmer rouge a depleted force now:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/79176.stm
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