MIA FARROW - FARROW'S DREAM FOR DAFUR BARRED FROM CAMBODIA

Actress MIA FARROW has been banned from campaigning outside a Cambodian prison famed for its links to the country's former ruling political party Khmer Rouge. The UNICEF goodwill ambassador has been holding Olympic-style torch-passing ceremonies in countries that have suffered genocides to draw attention to the close links the 2008 Olympic host, China, has to Sudan. Farrow and her group, Dream for Darfur, had planned to continue her campaign with a ceremony outside the former Tuol Sleng jail, which is now a genocide museum, on Sunday (20Jan08), in her efforts to pressure the Chinese authorities to use their power and bring an end to the violence in Darfur, western Sudan. In a statement from Dream for Darfur, the group says, "The symbolic Olympic torch relay is urging the Chinese government, as both Olympic host and Sudan's strongest political and economic partner, to use its special influence with the Sudanese government." But Cambodian officials are refusing to allow Farrow to hold such an event. Interior ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak says, "The Olympic Games are not a political issue. Therefore, we won't allow any rally to light a torch. "We will not support the activity. We will not allow them to politicise the Olympic Games." The Dream for Darfur's campaign has so far seen ceremonies held in Chad, Rwanda, Armenia, Germany and Bosnia.