<a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=CB">Cambodia</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=US">United States</a>

The Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) are a militant organization based in Long Beach, California that are dedicated to the overthrow of Cambodia's government.  The group cites corruption, mismanagement, and perpetuation of inequality as some of the faults of the current regime, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen.  CFF's leader is a middle-aged Cambodian-American accountant named Chhun Yasith.  From his home in California, Yasith directs a network-in-place that stretches across Northeastern Cambodia and over the Thai border.  Its members include Cambodian-Americans based in Thailand and the US, as well as former soldiers from the Khmer Rouge and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.  The group reportedly has nineteen brigades of unknown size, each led by a commander.  In 1998, a world conference of all these commanders was held in Thailand to elect a board of directors.  While the prospect of a terrorist group led by an accountant provoked smirks initially, the increasing violence of CFF activities has convinced Hun Sen's administration that the group represents a serious security threat.  <P> The group's "coming out" occurred in November 2000, when seventy CFF militiamen led a coordinated attack on government buildings in Phnom Penh, killing at least eight people and causing significant damage to the facilities.  One year later, the group exploded grenades near six government buildings.  Luckily there were no fatalities.  Cambodian President Hun Sen issued a warrant for the arrest of Chhun Yasith after the 2000 attack, but he has been unable to persuade the United States, which does not have an extradition treaty with Cambodia, to give him up.

Since 2001, the CFF has been inactive.  The events of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent announcement of a US-led global war on terrorism, has made it difficult for the US to turn a blind eye to Chunn Yasith's activities.  Although Yasith remains in the country, his ability to stay here has been made conditional on the cessation of his involvement with all terrorism.  No further attacks are expected.