Cambodia hosts large-scale peacekeeping drill

Indonesian soldiers parade during the multi-national exercise Angkor sentinel 2010 at Kampong Speu province, some 60 kilometers west of Phnom Penh on July 17, 2010. (Photo courtesy: AFP)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (C) and United Nations resident coordinator Douglas Broderick (L) look a photo exhibition during the multi-national exercise Angkor sentinel 2010 at Kampong Speu province, some 60 kilometers west of Phnom Penh on July 17, 2010. (Photo courtesy: AFP)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) looks at demining equipments during the multi-national exercise Angkor sentinel 2010 at Kampong Speu province, some 60 kilometers west of Phnom Penh on July 17, 2010. (Photo courtesy: AFP)

KAMPONG SPEU, Saturday 17 July 2010 (AFP) - Cambodia opened its first ever large-scale international peacekeeping training exercise with a ceremony Saturday at a military base south of the capital.

Over 700 military personnel from 23 countries will participate in two weeks of field training during the "Angkor Sentinel" exercise, focusing on developing nations' contributions to UN peacekeeping operations.

"From a country that used to receive blue hat soldiers to help keep peace, Cambodia has become a country that sends blue hat soldiers to help keep peace in other nations," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said, referring to UN troop uniforms.

Cambodia was the focus of a UN peacekeeping mission in the early 1990s to help end decades of civil war, but has recently deployed troops to work as UN peacekeepers in Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic.

But the exercise, co-sponsored by the US Army, has been criticised by New York-based Human Rights Watch for using the grounds of the Cambodian military's ACO Tank Unit, which has been accused of being involved in illegal landgrabs.

"For the Pentagon and State Department to permit abusive Cambodian military units to host a high-profile regional peacekeeping exercise is outrageous," said Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director, in a statement.

"The US undermines its protests against the Cambodian government for rampant rights abuses like forced evictions when it showers international attention and funds on military units involved in grabbing land and other human rights violations," he added.

The "Angkor Sentinel" is part of the 2010 Global Peace Operations Initiative, a US effort to help train peacekeepers around the world.