TERRORISM: Children taken Hostage in Cambodian School Siege

The siege is now over, leaving one child dead when police stormed the building after a standoff for several hours. Not only Cambodian children, but those from England, Ireland, America and Japan were being held to name just a few of the countries. The captors were demanding money, the equivalent of around 550.



Another sickening example of how terrorists will pick on the weak and innocent to attempt to get recognition for their cause. It is very sad to see a child was killed in the siege, but one must be thankful that this didn’t end in the same way as last years school siege in Beslan, Russia.

What is worrying to an extent though is that two incidents of this nature have occurred in such a small period of time. Let us hope this is not a general trend that will continue.

Although not much is known about the captors at this time, one can infer that they are probably a native, not international group, due to their demands of £550, which to any westerner is a very small price to pay for the life of their child.


Related News Links:
www.guardian.co.uk

[edit on 16-6-2005 by Ishes]

Just heard it on the radio. A 3 year old Australian kid is/was in there too.
I heard the terriosts had shot guns.

Canadian child killed in Cambodian hostage-taking.
Last Updated Thu, 16 Jun 2005 08:19:39 EDT
CBC News

www.cbc.ca...

Another sickening example of how terrorists will pick on the weak and innocent to attempt to get recognition for their cause. It is very sad to see a child was killed in the siege, but one must be thankful that this didn’t end in the same way as last years school siege in Beslan, Russia.

Took the words straight from my mouth.

The captors were demanding money, the equivalent of around £550.

Lol.

lol, 550 euros... if i were them i would at least demand 20 million dollars, many people will spend this much to get their child safe... lol 550 euros

That would be "pounds" and not Euros. There's a big difference.

What a sad and horrible event, I really feel for the children who had to go through this, the kids where so young

Police attacked the van, shooting two of the hostage takers dead and arresting four others. The dead child is reported to be a three-year-old Canadian boy.

The attackers shot the boy when the authorities refused to meet all of their demands, then "threatened to kill the other children one by one", said information minister Khieu Kanharith.

Im thankfully that no other children died in this attack but 1 little boy is a tragic event,

SKYNEWS

Originally posted by Kasra
That would be "pounds" and not Euros. There's a big difference.

how much of a difference... how much is 550 pounds in US dollars?

Thats like what, $1000?

Originally posted by cownosecat
Thats like what, $1000?

Correct.

1,002.6859 United States Dollars (USD) is equal to 550 United Kingdom Pounds (GBP)

Originally posted by Ishes

Originally posted by cownosecat
Thats like what, $1000?

Correct.

1,002.6859 United States Dollars (USD) is equal to 550 United Kingdom Pounds (GBP)

wow... lol, ok not as much as i thought... you got to wonder why, shot one kid just to get 1000 dollars lol... where does this take place again?

It was Cambodia, read the first post.

I seriously hope they don't have human right issues protecting the hostage takers...

Those were no terrorist.

Message received. One child=One dead billion+heir in reply.

Next.

Not every criminal act is an act of terrorsim. That term is being thrown about much too freely. This does nothing to aid understanding of world events.

The source article at Sky.com says:

It is not clear whether the hostage-taking was criminally or politically motivated.

The Sky.com article says a 3-year old Canadian boy was killed. The Guardian Unlimited article says it was a 3 year old Canadian girl. In any event, it is tragic.

Even so, please make an effort to be clear in reporting a tragic event and refrain from prematurely applying the much too broad brush of terrorism as a knee-jerk reaction to everything.