U.K., AUSTRALIA HOST COUNTER-TERRORISM CONFERENCE

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000818

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT AND EAP/MLS; GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL CB
SUBJECT: U.K., AUSTRALIA HOST COUNTER-TERRORISM CONFERENCE


1. (U) The U.K. and Australian governments sponsored a
seminar on counter-terrorism for Cambodian government (RGC)
officials April 27-28. Intended to exchange information on
strategies, arrangements and capabilities for meeting the
terrorist threat in Cambodia, the seminar received high-level
support from the RGC. DPM/Minister of Interior Sar Kheng
opened the seminar and PM Hun Sen closed it. Virtually the
entire senior cadre of the Cambodian National Police
attended, as did senior members of the government and
military involved in CT work. Officers and experts from the
Australian Federal Police and U.K. CT Command led
discussions. Among the topics covered were the July 2005
London bombings, lessons learned from Cambodia's 2005 Siem
Reap hostage incident, the roles of police and military in CT
and the planning of a CT exercise.


2. (U) DPM Sar Kheng's opening remarks stressed the numerous
areas in which Cambodia needed to increase its capabilities,
including the quality and effectiveness of law enforcement,
passage of a comprehensive law on CT, financial management,
and strengthening religious institutions so that they will be
more resistant to outside influence. He noted that while
Cambodia has not figured as a terrorist target to date, it
does not mean that Cambodia can afford to be complacent and
not prepare in the event of an attack. The DPM warned that
terrorists use technology well and pay attention to
information collection; terrorist operations are
sophisticated in their planning and execution, and law
enforcement must pay heed. He ordered officers to attend all
of the seminar sessions in order to derive maximum benefit.


3. (U) Scheduled to speak for 30 minutes, PM Hun Sen broke
from his text to address attendees for one and half hours.
Noting that he had personally drafted Cambodia's strategic CT
plan, Hun Sen stressed the importance of not underestimating
terrorists' capabilities. He commented that it was necessary
to draft planning documents and protect potential targets.
Bemoaning the fact that terrorists can learn of government
operations from the media and adjust their plans accordingly,
he stressed the importance of intelligence collection. He
went on at length about the successes of the armed forces of
the Peoples Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) against the Khmer
Rouge and non-Communist resistance in the 1980's, often
calling out to members of Qe audience who had served as
colleagues in that war. He took particular pride in the
disinformation fed to FUNCINPEC through a double agent and
claimed that the PRK had infiltrated all of the main
resistance bases, including Site B (FUNCINPEC),Site 2
(KPNLF),and Site 8 (Khmer Rouge).


4. (SBU) Comment: As Australian Ambassador Lisa Filipetto
noted in her closing remarks, the seminar was useful in
establishing links among the CT organizations of Australia,
the U.K. and Cambodia. It demonstrated also the strong need
for RGC capacity-building and trust/cooperation between
police and military officials involved in CT issues. The
presentations by the UK police investigator in charge of the
July 2005 London bombings and the Cambodian MOI on the Siem
Reap hostage were in stark contrast to one another. Douglas
McKenna outlined the strong cooperation within the UK
government and among European counterparts in addressing the
London bombings, and frankly explained what worked well and
what areas of improvement remained. The Cambodian Ministry
of Interior official showed a carefully edited film of the
Siem Reap incident that had removed any reference to the
Cambodian military and only showed the police. In addition,
he offered no lessons learned and no comment on how the
operation could have proceeded more effectively. Western
officials in attendance agreed that their Cambodian
counterparts would need continued exercises and step-by-step
operational training for some time to come. End Comment.
STORELLA