Phnom Penh -Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen
on Thursday said allowing the construction of a spate of border casinos
was part of a “secret strategy” to protect the country's territory from
its neighbours.
“I don't
like casinos, but the biggest goal for giving permission to build
casinos is to protect the border,” he told parliament during a
five-hour speech addressing border demarcation issues with Vietnam.
“One
can remove border markers, but one can't remove five-storey hotels.
Don't be stupid,” Hun Sen said, in response to opposition criticism
that the gambling dens were harmful to the country.
Cambodia's
border with Vietnam and Thailand is dotted with dozens of casinos and
accompanying hotels catering mostly to foreign gamblers since
Cambodians are not legally allowed to gamble.
“You
force me to talk about it. This should be a secret strategy to protect
the nation,” the strongman premier said in typically feisty fashion.
Hun
Sen used the marathon address, which was broadcast live on television,
to deny long-standing claims from the main opposition party that his
government was allowing Vietnam to encroach on Cambodian territory.
Cambodia
and Vietnam officially began demarcating their 1,270-kilometre
(790-mile) border in September 2006 after decades of territorial
disputes stemming from French colonial times.
According to Hun Sen some 700 kilometres have been demarcated so far. - Sapa-AFP
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