The editorial staff and translators of French language newspaper Cambodge Soir resigned

July 11 in order to end the ongoing dispute with the paper's directors. The resignation

of 17 journalists and translators came a month after a strike by the staff had halted

publication of the daily paper. According to a press statement, the dispute was sparked

after a reporter had been fired for filing a story on the investigation into illegal

logging by UK-based NGO Global Witness, which had been banned by the Cambodian government.

After two-days of the strike, director Phillipe Monnin allegedly closed the newspaper,

citing bankruptcy.