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PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0090/01 0190108
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P 190108Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7861
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000090 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS CB
SUBJECT: BILATERAL COOPERATION PRAISED IN DEFENSE DAS RAY 
VISIT TO CAMBODIA 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Reviewing excellent bilateral cooperation 
in POW/MIAaffairs and taking stock of the current 
US-Cambodia relationship were the focus of Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs Charles Ray's visit 
 
SIPDIS 
to Cambodia January 15-18.  DASD Ray, who served as US 
Ambassador to Cambodia from 2002 to 2005, met with PM Hun 
Sen, King Sihamoni, a range of individuals active in defense 
and POW/MIA issues, as well as former colleagues from 
government, the business community, and diplomatic missions. 
End Summary. 
 
Cambodia:  A Model of Cooperation 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) During his January 17 meeting with Prime Minister Hun 
Sen, DASD Ray praised Cambodia's assistance in POW/MIA 
recovery efforts, noting that he often touts Cambodia's 
"first-rate" cooperation as a model for other countries.  The 
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Committee (JPAC) has been able to 
access and investigate all suspected POW/MIA sites.  The 
Cambodians have shared important information on sites in what 
were in Cambodia-controlled areas during the war.  Some other 
areas were under effective Vietnamese control, and the 
Vietnamese have not been equally forthcoming.  JPAC expects 
to finish its work on suspected sites by 2008; after that, 
further work would only occur if additional information about 
new sites surfaces.  The PM responded that he was proud of 
Cambodia's 20-year history of cooperation on POW/MIA affairs 
and switched to English to emphasize that Cambodia's 
cooperation would continue to be "everything, every time, and 
everywhere."  He described his efforts to encourage his 
counterparts from Laos and Vietnam to be more forthcoming in 
their POW/MIA cooperation, and promised to raise the issue 
again with the Vietnamese PM during his visit to Cambodia in 
late February.  Hun Sen also noted wryly that while some 
countries expect to be paid back for their cooperation with 
the US (e.g. in US support for Vietnam's WTO membership), 
Cambodia works with the US on recovery efforts regardless of 
what it gets in return.  Hun Sen also offered to use 
television and radio broadcasts to air USG-written 
announcements seeking information about missing 
servicemembers, and DASD Ray committed that his staff and the 
embassy would cooperate on this effort. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Counterterrorism, HIV/AIDS, and Protect Act cases 
also showcase excellent US-Cambodian cooperation, DASD Ray 
and PM Hun Sen agreed.  Describing US-Cambodian relations as 
moving forward, the PM noted that counterterrorism 
cooperation was particularly important and that Cambodia 
would welcome more training and other assistance to help 
thwart terrorism both inside and outside Cambodia.  Noting 
recent explosions in Thailand and the Philippines, he opined 
that the region as a whole, and Cambodia specifically, was in 
need of upgraded efforts to fight terrorist violence. 
Cambodia would not hesitate, as this was a common security 
issue. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Ambassador offered his thanks that the PM's 
wife, Bun Rany, had been able to attend a December 1, 2006 
reception for children living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. 
The PM noted important U.S. assistance on HIV/AIDS, said 
former President Clinton's visit (and his work on HIV/AIDS) 
gave Cambodia a great boost, but expressed concern that 
Cambodia would have many more AIDS orphans in the future 
unless further efforts are made to battle the disease. 
 
¶5.  (U) DASD Ray noted that he and the PM had initiated 
collaboration on Protect Act cases involving American 
pedophiles in Cambodia in June 2003, and asked for the PM's 
assistance in expelling from Cambodia an Amcit currently in 
jail so that he would stand trial in the US for sexual crimes 
committed in Cambodia.  The PM promised to provide written 
instructions to the Ministries of Justice and Interior to 
follow the same procedures as when previous American 
pedophiles were expelled. 
 
¶6.  (U) DASD Ray expressed his regret that the planned 
pull-aside between Hun Sen and President Bush in the margins 
of the APEC meeting in Hanoi had not transpired.  Hun Sen 
noted that Vietnam had faced difficulties with regard to the 
U.S. reluctance to meet in an ASEAN format including Burma, 
and he said he "had not wanted to give the Vietnamese more of 
a job".  The PM said he regretted not having an opportunity 
to meet the President and that he hoped to continue to move 
the U.S.-Cambodian relationship in a good way. 
 
Other Meetings 
-------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) During his visit to Cambodia, DASD Ray also met with 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000090  002 OF 002 
 
 
the Minister of Defense and separately with the POW/MIA 
Committee, visited a JPAC site, and spoke to journalists and 
journalism students about the evolving U.S./Cambodian 
relationship.  He met with King Sihamoni who talked about the 
improving economic situation as well as challenges, 
particularly strengthening the law of the land and fighting 
corruption.  Echoing DASD Ray's remarks to Radio Free Asia, 
the King agreed that more freedom of the press and freedom of 
expression was needed in Cambodia.  He asked that his 
profound gratitude for USG assistance in education and 
fighting TIP, AIDS, and bird flu be conveyed to President 
Bush.  Ray noted that he saw a more determined intent from 
the RGC to respond to Cambodia's deep problems and said that 
he saw a new sense of trust among the Cambodian people.  The 
King expressed his government's desire to cooperate with the 
USG in fighting terrorism and thanked the US for helping to 
preserve Cambodian culture and to bring democracy to Cambodia. 
 
¶8.  (U) The former Ambassador also was guest of honor at an 
Embassy reception marking the first anniversary of the 
opening of the NEC.  Both Ambassador Mussomeli and former 
Ambassador Ray focused their reception remarks on the 
improvement in--and challenges to--U.S.-Cambodian relations 
in the year since Hun Sen released jailed human rights 
activists just in time for them to participate, along with 
A/S Chris Hill, in the NEC opening. 
MUSSOMELI