FBI Director Robert Mueller will pay an official visit to Cambodia Wednesday, for talks on counterterrorism and other law enforcement measures with Prime Minister Hun Sen, officials said Tuesday.
Mueller is on a regional tour, with stops expected in China and Vietnam, according to the US Embassy.
The FBI was criticized by human rights groups after it established an attaché office in Phnom Penh in 2007 and invited National Police Chief Gen. Hok Lundy to Washington.
Critics said police were the perpetrators of abuse, and cooperation with them made rights work more difficult.
Part of Mueller’s visit will be to attend a ceremony to celebrate the official opening of the legal attache office, the embassy said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak called the visit “a good sign in strengthening the cooperation between the FBI and the Cambodian police.”
“The Ministry of Interior, under the leadership of the government, especially the Cambodian police, have cooperated very well with the US FBI,” he said. “This cooperation focuses on cross-border crimes, including terrorism, drugs, sex, weapons trafficking and piracy.”
The FBI has trained hundreds of Cambodian police in understanding terrorist tactics and strategies, he said.
