PHNOM PENH - Hollywood action hero Jackie Chan began a tour of Cambodia Wednesday aimed at raising 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, will kick off his three-day visit to the kingdom with a call on landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) victims at northwestern Battambang's emergency hospital.
Then Thursday Chan, popularly known in the Southeast Asian nation as "Chhin Long", will visit several mine risk education projects in Pailin municipality before exploding landmines and UXO with the Cambodia Mine Action Centre.
He will have a royal audience with King Norodom Sihamoni on Friday and hold a press briefing, according to his itinerary released by UNICEF.
Accompanying the Hong Kong star was US double-gold Olympic medallist Edwin Moses in his capacity as an ambassador for the Laureas Sport for Good Foundation.
Cambodia, which Chan is visiting for the second time in his role as a goodwill ambassador, 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, more than 25 percent of whom were aged under 18. Most were tampering with UXO, which people deliberately try to collect to sell as scrap metal.
04/20/2005 10:57 GMT