Cambodia rejects US request for troops in Iraq

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia has turned down a U.S. approach on sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday.

"We will not send our armed forces to Iraq because the issue there is not in the hands of the United Nations," Hun Sen told reporters.

But even if the U.N. were in command, Cambodia would still not send troops to Iraq or Afghanistan, he said following a meeting last week with U.S. Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, who asked him to consider sending troops.

"Every day we have seen people get killed and taken hostage" in Iraq, Hun Sen said.