Cambodian PM accepts WFP apology

CAMBODIAN: Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen accepted an apology from the World Food Program for an incorrect statement about the country’s food security, days after the controversial jailing of a WFP worker.

Cambodian warehouse employee Seng Kunnaka was sentenced on Sunday to six months in prison for printing and distributing anti-government material in a rushed trial criticised by rights groups.

The arrest came not long after Prime Minister Hun Sen gave a speech in which he attacked the WFP for wrongly claiming Cambodia was vulnerable to food shortages. The UN organisation has since apologised for the error. A government spokesman told AFP earlier this week that there was no connection between the arrest and Hun Sen’s attack on WFP.

“This is an individual case... They did not prosecute WFP,” Khieu Kanharith said Monday.

In a letter dated December 18 — one day after Kunnaka’s arrest — and published on a government website on Friday, WFP blamed the false statement on outdated information on its website, which has now been corrected.

Phnom Penh, Sunady, AFP