'Smeared' Envoy Taken Ill

Cambodia has signed a pact with the United States to counter what Washington describes as the "alarming" pillaging of centuries-old artefacts from the impoverished Asian country.

The agreement, signed in September but only announced yesterday, extends a deal agreed on stone items in 1999 to include metal and ceramic objects.

Thousands of artefacts, some dating back more than 2,000 years, are smuggled out of Cambodia every year. Many end up for sale in the west, and particularly in America.

"By entering into this agreement, the United States demonstrates its respect for the cultural heritage of Cambodia and decries the global pillage that results in an illicit trade in cultural objects," the US state department said in a statement.

The announcement followed international talks on protecting Cambodia's Angkor Wat series of more than 100 temples dating back to the ninth century.

Cambodian officials say that Angkor Wat, a UN world heritage site with its own guards, is in fact under much less threat than the thousands of other temples and cultural sites around the country.