The president of the Cambodian Independent Farmers' Association, Chham Chha-ny, has

sent a letter to King Norodom Sihanouk protesting the decision of Phnom Penh's Municipal

Court that rejected his organization's complaints on logging.

CIFA brought a case against Prime Minister Hun Sen and former Co-Prime Minister Norodom

Ranariddh in November 2001 for what it described as "their responsibility in

the destruction of Cambodia's forest since 1993, which led to unprecedented floods

in 2000 and 2001, causing the death of hundreds of villagers" as well as crops,

personal belongings and property.

The court prosecutor rejected the case, saying that floods were natural disasters,

and that deforestation played no part in them.

In his statement, Chhany blamed the two former co-prime ministers, focusing on logging

concessions given to Cambodia's army as well as those given to logging concession

companies.

Industry experts and NGOs say that Cambodia's forests have been badly mismanaged

over the years. The government is currently engaged in various forestry reforms after

pressure from donors to reform the logging industry.