The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- CORRECTED-Cambodian strongman Hun Sen meets opposition after protest death
- Hurricane Ingrid turns west with no change in strength - NHC
- Romanian gold miners end underground protest after PM's visit
| CORRECTED-Cambodian strongman Hun Sen meets opposition after protest death Posted: PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met the country's main opposition leader on Monday after violence broke out at a rally the previous day to protest July's contested general election result and one man was shot dead. At least 1,000 protesters were camped out in the rain in makeshift tents in Freedom Park in the capital Phnom Penh late on Sunday and many remained on Monday in a tense standoff. The electoral authorities say Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which has been in power for 28 years, won the election, but the opposition claims the CPP rigged the vote and wants an independent inquiry. Clashes broke out in several places in Phnom Penh on Sunday as supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) tried to remove razor-wire barricades and refused to restrict their protest to a designated site in Freedom Park. Chan Soveth, a worker for human rights group Adhoc, said a man was shot in the head and died when CNRP supporters tried to move razor-wire barricades set up by the authorities in the Kbal Thnal Bridge area near their party headquarters. He said the man was not a political protester but someone who lived in the area and was among a group of local residents angry that they could not reach their homes. Chan Soveth said he had visited five other people in hospital who had been hit by live rounds. "These bullets came from where the authorities were," he told Reuters. Kheng Tito, National Military Police spokesman, said police had used only teargas, batons and smoke grenades and he could not say how the man died. "I don't know how he was killed. We didn't use live bullets," he said. The capital has been tense since the election on July 28 but protests were mostly calm until this weekend and the security forces, prone to cracking down on dissent in the past, had also been restrained. King Norodom Sihamoni summoned Hun Sen and CNRP leader Sam Rainsy to a meeting on Saturday morning but it lasted just 30 minutes and apparently produced no results. AUTHORITARIAN PREMIER According to the electoral authorities the CPP won the election with 68 seats to the CNRP's 55, a greatly reduced majority that, even before the protests, signalled dissatisfaction with Hun Sen's authoritarian rule despite rapid economic growth in a country seen for decades as a basket case. The CNRP says it was cheated out of 2.3 million votes that would have handed it victory. It was unclear how long the demonstration against Hun Sen would last. Those wrapped in blankets in Freedom Park have vowed to stay for at least three days. "We're here to protest against the National Election Commission that stole our votes. They should be the referee, not the puppet of the ruling CPP," said Yong Ol, 43, who had come to the capital by truck from southern Prey Veng province. Analysts see the standoff as a war of attrition stacked in favour of a premier not known for compromise. The opposition will try to paralyse the legislature by boycotting parliament's first session on September 23. Hun Sen, 61, has been a dominant force in Cambodia for years and has taken credit for steering it away from a chaotic past towards economic growth and development. But many urban youth born after the 1975-1979 "Killing Fields" rule of the Khmer Rouge see little appeal in his iron-fisted approach and are disillusioned by growing land evictions, labour disputes and graft plus the country's close political ties with top investor China. (The story corrected the name of bridge in paragraph 5) (Writing by Alan Raybould; Editing by Michael Perry) |
| Hurricane Ingrid turns west with no change in strength - NHC Posted: (Reuters) - Hurricane Ingrid turned back toward the west-northwest with no change in strength, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said in its latest bulletin. Ingrid was located about 95 miles (155 km) east-southeast of La Pesca Mexico, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km/h), the NHC said. "Some slight strengthening is possible before the centre (of Ingrid) reaches the coast and weakening will begin once Ingrid moves over land," the NHC said. (Reporting by NR Sethuraman in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane) |
| Romanian gold miners end underground protest after PM's visit Posted: BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian gold miners who staged a five-day protest underground against plans to halt development of the site ended their sit-in on Sunday after the prime minister went into the pit to meet them. "I promised them a parliamentary commission to assess the proposed mine (before a vote in parliament)," said Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who wore a white miner's cap and green overalls and was surrounded by cheering miners. Thirty three workers had blockaded themselves into the Rosia Montana site 300 metres below ground and threatened to go on hunger strike over fears jobs would be lost if plans by Canada's Gabriel Resources' to set up Europe's biggest open-cast gold mine did not go ahead. Rosia Montana in the Carpathian Mountains in northern Romania is the site of Roman-era gold works where archaeological conservation works were being carried out. The government approved a draft law to allow the mine project to go ahead in August. But Ponta said last week lawmakers were set to reject the Canadian company's 14-year bid to develop the mine due to mounting resistance from the public and political leaders, who are worried about its impact on the environment. Thousands of people in cities across Romania have staged demonstrations in past weeks against the mine project, including 10,000 in the capital Bucharest on Sunday, where they blocked a main boulevard. Thousands also gathered in Rosia Montana on Sunday to support the mine development and protest against widespread poverty in the area, arguing the plan would create jobs. The mine project would use cyanide to extract 314 tonnes of gold and 1,500 tonnes of silver. The company says the technology is safe. "Save Rosia Montana," read banners in Bucharest in protests attended by mainly young, educated people. "Save Rosia Montana people," read posters in Rosia. Ponta's Infrastructure Ministry said on Thursday Romania would have a hard time defending itself in court if it rejects the plans by Gabriel Resources. Gabriel, whose largest shareholder, hedge fund Paulson & Co, has a 16 percent stake, said it may resort to legal action. Romania, which joined the European Union in 2007, resorted to IMF-led aid in 2009 after years of recession and is in dire need of investment, including in its mining, energy and farming sectors. A vote in parliament on the mine has yet to be scheduled but political sources said it could be called as early as next week after the special commission has its say. (Editing by Janet Lawrence) |
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