Jackie Chan to raise mine awareness

Jackie Chan to raise mine awareness

CAMBODIA: Hollywood action hero Jackie Chan is to tour Cambodia next week to raise mine awareness in his role as a goodwill ambassador for the UN children's fund UNICEF and UNAIDS.

Chan, arguably the most successful Asian star in Hollywood, is due to arrive in the impoverished kingdom next Wednesday for a three-day visit, UNICEF said in a statement on late Wednesday. It will be his second visit as an ambassador.

Popularly known in the Southeast Asian nation as "Chhin Long", Chan "will visit school and community mine risk education and landmine and UXO (unexploded ordnance) removal projects in Battambang province", it said.

He will also have a royal audience with King Norodom Sihamoni, it added.

Cambodia remains one of the most heavily mined countries in the world following nearly three decades of civil war that ended in 1998.

Between 2000 and 2004, 4,194 people were killed or injured by landmines or UXO in Cambodia, more than 25 per cent of whom were aged under 18. Most were tampering with UXO, which people try to collect to sell as scrap metal. -- AFP