The United States will

provide US$635,000 in non-lethal military aid to Cambodia in 2009 for

countering transnational criminal activities, including the trafficking

of drugs and people and demining programs, according to embassy

spokesman John Johnson. The bulk of the aid - $575,000 - will be used

to buy vehicles, protective head gear, and medical and communications

equipment, he wrote by email. The funds should help professionalise the

Cambodian army so it can participate effectively in UN peacekeeping

missions, he added. Cambodia became eligible for direct US military

funding in 2006 after it was upgraded from a Tier 3 rating on the State

Department's annual human-trafficking report.