25 April 2007 By Sok Serey Radio Free Asia Translated from Khmer by Soheata Nguyen Phu Trong, president the Vietnamese National Assembly and the leader of a high-ranking delegation, has arrived in Cambodia on Wednesday afternoon to perform a 3-day official visit from 25 to 28 April. The goal of the visit is to strengthen the friendship and cooperation between the Cambodian and Vietnamese parliaments. A number of agreements will also be concluded during this visit. During the 3-day visit, Nguon Nhel, first vice-president of the National Assembly, was seen greeting the delegation at the Phnom Penh international airport. Nguon Nhel told RFA at the airpot: “This is an exchange [of visit] in the cooperation in all fields, and there will be signing on … the discussions … we agree to use the Brévié Line as border and the committees from both sides have agreed [on this], on some of the remaining contentious points, we will discuss about them again and we will work to install the border posts for our future. The Kampuchea Krom is an issue which is not just occurring right now, it existed since long ago.” The visit of the Nguyen Phu Trong in Cambodia occurs at a time when Khmer Krom people and Khmer Krom monks are holding demonstrations everywhere in the world, such as in the USA, Australia, France, and in Cambodia, to protest the defrocking of 16 Khmer Krom monks by the communist Vietnamese regime, and the jailing of 5 Khmer Krom monks because they demanded their freedom rights to worship their Buddhism religion according to Khmer custom. Tran Mannrinh, an official of the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF) in the US, talked to RFA to voice his opinion on Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit: “We are asking Heng Samrin, the president of the Cambodian National Assembly, to raise the Khmer Krom issue with Nguyen Phu Trong, the president of the Vietnamese National Assembly, so that the latter can pay attention to the current plight of Khmer Krom.” On this issue also, Monk Yoeung Sin, President of the Khmer Krom Monks Association in Phnom Penh, said: “Please tell the [Vietnamese] executive branch to stop oppressing Khmer Krom monks.” On 20 April, the Cambodian police force put down a demonstration held by Khmer Krom monks in Cambodia, causing injuries on 6 Khmer Krom monks. According to the visit program of Nguyen Phu Trong, he will meet with Heng Samring, his Cambodian counterpart, with Chea Sim, president of the Senate, and with Hun Sen, during the 3-day visit. Xinhua, the Chinese press agency, reported earlier that Heng Samrin said that border issue and Khmer Krom issue will not be discussed during Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit.
