Related: Cambodian hostage crisis ends

6 Cambodian hostage-takers arrested

Cambodian hostage crisis ends with Canadian child killed

Some hostages released by armed men in Cambodia

70 students taken hostage by armed men in Cambodia

    PHNOM PENH, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Cambodia's tourism will not be affected by Thursday's hostage-taking incident, a government official said on Friday.

    Interviewed by phone, Thong Khon, secretary of state of TourismMinistry, told Xinhua that "so far, there is no tourist to cancel their visit plan to Siem Reap. Every thing is as usual."

    "The attack is not aimed at the tourists, just a criminal case,it is a isolated one," he added, stressing it was not an international terrorism.

    Siem Reap, located more than 300 km northwestern of Phnom Penh, is home of world famous Angkor Wat temples and Cambodia's main tourism destination.

    Four masked men, at least one of them armed with gun, entered aprivate-run international school at about 9:30 am on Thursday in Cambodia's northwestern tourism city of Siem Reap and took about 70 students and teachers as hostage. About 30 students were released later, leaving some 30 still at the hand of hostage-takers.

    The bandits demanded 30,000 US dollars, weapons and a 12-seater vehicle for making their escape to the Cambodia-Thai border. They also threatened to kill the children one by one if the demand did not meet.

    Police stormed into the school at about 3:00 pm. All four hostage-takers, all Cambodians in their 20s, were arrested, and the students were freed, but a two-year-old Canadian boy was killed by the bandits.

    According to a eyewitness, the children were aged between two and six and were believed from more than dozen foreign countries and region, including Australia, Japan, Canada and Chinese Taiwan.They were the children of expatriate workers living and working in the tourism city of Siem Reap.

    Tourism is one of Cambodia's main revenue resource. The tourismsector attracted 777 million US dollars in 2004 and was responsible for a 12 percent share of the country's GDP, accordingto the figure of Tourism Ministry.

    In the first three months of 2005, Cambodia received 387,908 arrivals, an increase of 52 percent compared to 2004.

    Thong Khon said that he was confidence "Cambodia's tourism situation is very good." Enditem