Two more suspects detained in connection with hostage-taking in Cambodia

Cambodian police said on Sunday they had detained two more suspects in connection with Thursday's hostage-taking in a Siem Reap international school in which a Canadian boy was killed.

A security guard at the school was detained and the man, Cheut Nee, who sold the gun to the alleged ringleader Chea Sokhom for 150 US dollars, was arrested late Saturday, said Ou Em, head of the serious criminal division in Siem Reap Province.

Four masked bandits were arrested at the scene when the crisis ended on Thursday, and later another man was detained who was suspected the mastermind. However, the man denied any involvement.

Cheut Nee was caught in the Cambodian-Thai border town of Poipet. "He is the one who sold the gun to Chea Sokhom. We are still looking for one more," Ou Em said.

At least four masked men, armed with a pistol, entered Siem Reap 's international school and took about 30 students aged 2 to 6 as hostage on Thursday. They demanded money, weapon and a vehicle in exchange for the release of the hostages.

After about six-hour standoff, the four were arrested by police at the scene, but a 2-year-old Canadian boy was killed by the bandits.

Chea Sokhom, 23-year-old, said during inquest that he wanted to kill two children of his former South Korean boss who attacked him.

Chea Sokhom worked as a driver for South Korean restaurateur's two children in Siem Reap. Chea said that about two months ago, the boss slapped his face twice for his late, he then had a grudge against him and planned to revenge.

Nearly 30 years' civil conflict in the Kingdom made it awash with illegal weapons, though the government has made a great efforts to destroy them. Since 1999, the government has destroyed more than 150,000 weapons.

Siem Reap, located more than 300 km northwestern of Phnom Penh, is home of world famous Angkor Wat temples and the main destination of the foreign travelers. In 2004, more than 1 million tourists visited Cambodia.

And with a boom of tourism industry, more and more foreigners arrived here to invest and work in tourism service industry.

Source: Xinhua