Phnom Penh protest against nuclear tests

By Allen Myers PHNOM PENH — Guests arriving for a French commercial promotion at the Hotel Cambodiana on October 16 were met by several dozen demonstrators wearing T-shirts which demanded an end to French nuclear tests in the Pacific and handing out leaflets which called for a boycott of French products. Until hotel staff reached it, a banner on the hotel exterior promoting the "French Festival" was covered by a protest banner in French and Khmer calling for an end to nuclear tests. In addition to the boycott leaflet, the demonstrators handed out copies of the official festival program with an altered menu for the evening dinner. This featured items such as carrots irradiated in Polynesian style, fish topped with radioactive fallout and giant mushrooms from the Tahitian exclusion zone — "governmental tax of 4 billion francs not included". The protest was organised and carried out by members of the city's small but varied expatriate community, with participants from France, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, the Philippines, Hungary, Ireland, Britain, the USA, Denmark, Norway, Russia, Canada, Italy and Finland.