Newspaper to end supplement that led to seizures in Cambodia

May 20, 2008, 10:21 GMT

Phnom Penh - A standoff between the Cambodian government and a US newspaper publisher appeared to be over Tuesday after the government seized copies for the second day of The Burma Daily, a supplement inside the English-language Cambodia Daily.

'The Burma Daily will not appear in The Cambodia Daily again,' Bernard Krisher, publisher of both newspapers, said while adding that the supplement would now publish in earnest toward its intended market in Myanmar and be available on the web and by mail.

Krisher said by telephone that the aims of his donor, the Adam Lincoln Steele Foundation, had been achieved and he was satisfied with the exposure the publication had gained.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the paper was confiscated because it was unlicensed.

'We have issued a formal notice to The Cambodia Daily today, and we will close it Wednesday if it continues to publish,' he said.

That threat appeared to have been averted Tuesday, but Krisher denied any wrongdoing, saying The Burma Daily was a sponsored supplement of The Cambodia Daily and did not require a license.

The Burma Daily, which had appeared since last week as a four-page insert with an identical masthead as its sister publication, 'is designed to introduce to the Burmese people what a free and responsible newspaper looks like,' Krisher said.

The publisher, The Cambodia Daily and the Cambodian government have enjoyed a mixed relationship over the years.

The Daily is seen as a primary news source by many expatriates, and Krisher has raised funds for more than 400 schools and operates or supports a number of aid organizations.

However, Prime Minister Hun Sen has publicly criticized the paper as biased on more than one occasion and it often leans toward the views of opposition parties and against the government.

Myanmar and Cambodia enjoy warm relations despite an international outcry over the Myanmar military junta's appalling human rights record.

Kanharith said that despite a policy of freedom of the press, Cambodia would not be a haven for publications about other governments.