SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2001

Cambodia holds 21 Viet loggers

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodian authorities have arrested 21 Vietnamese men believed to be engaged in illegal logging in the eastern province of Mondulkiri, police said Friday.

Mondulkiri police commissioner Reach Samnang said the investigation was ongoing and he was probing reports that senior officials were involved in the illegal felling of timber in the province.

"We arrested 21 Vietnamese illegal loggers. These people have entered Cambodia illegally and destroyed state property," he told AFP. "We are looking into reports that there are some high-ranking officials behind these loggers."

He said the men, arrested in two operations on February 3 and 8 were charged with illegal entry and destruction of state property and their case had been sent to the provincial court.

The arrests come amid an uproar over a report by environmental watchdog Global Witness released earlier this month blaming official corruption in Cambodia for a dramatic rise in illegal logging.

 

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