US defends military aid to Cambodia after opposition criticism

Jul 18, 2010, 6:41 GMT

Phnom Penh - A senior US diplomat defended military aid to Cambodia on Sunday, following criticism from a prominent opposition parliamentarian.

William Burns, US under secretary of state for political affairs, said military exercises in Cambodia involving troops from the US and 23 Asia-Pacific nations were part of efforts to improve regional humanitarian and peacekeeping capabilities.

'Any military relationship we conduct around the world is consistent with US law, and so we look very carefully and vet very carefully the participants,' Burns said at a ceremony in Phnom Penh to return seven ancient Cambodian artefacts recovered from the US.

The two-week exercise that began July 12 is part of the 2010 Global Peace Operations Initiative, a US-run effort to train peacekeepers.

Burns spoke after opposition legislator Mu Sochua said US support for military units have been implicated in human rights abuses was 'a huge insult to the people of Cambodia.'

'So I am extremely disappointed by President Obama for allowing this to happen in Cambodia,' Mu Sochua said.

She also accused the US Department of Defense of lying to the US Congress when it said Cambodian military units had not been involved in human rights abuses.

Mu Sochua said the international community was repeatedly failing in its obligations to Cambodia. She called on donors, who pledged more than 1 billion dollars this year, to impose conditions such as respect for human rights.