Sar Kheng Says Armored Vehicles Sent to Maintain Security

Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Friday confirmed that the deployment of armored personnel carriers (APCs) to Phnom Penh from the Thai-Cambodian border is part of a concerted security operation in response to the opposition’s plans to hold protests against the outcome of the July 28 national election. A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy responded on Friday by urging the government to resolve the contested results peacefully and without using intimidation. On Thursday, six APCs pulled into a pagoda in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, while photographs posted to Facebook claimed to depict more armored vehicles traveling on National Road 6 in Kompong Cham province. “The fact is, that this information is not wrong,” he told re­porters in response to a question about the deployment of armored vehicles and soldiers after a meeting with NGOs at the Interior Ministry about an investigation into election irregularities. “But I would like to inform the public that His Excellency Sam Rainsy has spoken multiple times from place to place about a huge protest. If I remember well, he said it seven times already.” Despite increased security measures, the opposition CNRP has called for calm and restraint in the wake of the election and has also said that demonstrations will only be conducted as a last resort. The post-election climate has also been largely peaceful, save for the detonation of a grenade behind the Phnom Penh Municipal Court early Wednesday, in which no one was injured. An investigation into the explosion is ongoing. …

 Kuch Naren and Lauren Crothers -
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/sar-kheng-says-armored-vehicles-sent-to-maintain-security-39046/