Hun Sen to suspend MIA search in retaliation

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will retaliate against a US halt on the issuing of most visas to senior foreign ministry officials and their families by suspending missions by US military-led teams searching for the remains of Americans missing in action during the Vietnam War.

Cambodia’s pro- government Fresh News website reported that Hun Sen said cooperation with the United States on the MIA search would be suspended until the two countries resolve several issues, especially the visa ban.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan confirmed the report.

The US government lists 48 Americans still unaccounted for in Cambodia.

The dispute comes at a time of sharp tensions between Hun Sen’s government and Washington.

As part of a general crackdown on critics ahead of next year’s general election, Cambodian authorities recently arrested the head of the main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, and accused the United States of colluding with him to overthrow the government.

The United States has rejected the accusation and criticised the arrest, along with a crackdown on the media that shut an independent English-language newspaper and about a dozen radio stations that broadcast opposition voices by the US government-financed Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. — AP