A Cambodian official is suing an American Internet cafe owner for promoting his scenic province as an ideal place to commit suicide.

Kampot governor Puth Chandarith says he has filed a suit against Californian Roger Graham for disseminating false information and defaming the province on his Web sites, www.euthanasiaincambodia.com and www.asian-hearts.com.

"A lot of foreigners were scared to stay here when they learned about the Web Site saying Kampot was a good place to commit suicide with no pain," he tells Reuters

Relatives of a 47-year-old British woman who recently committed suicide in Kampot believe the websites influenced her decision. Puth says the Cambodian government has received around 50 complaints from foreigners about the Web site.

Still emerging from decades of war, including the Khmer Rouge genocide of the 1970s in which 1.7 million people died, Cambodia has no laws governing euthanasia, and diplomats say it does not rank as a high priority in one of Asia's poorest nations.

Both Web sites have been taken offline since the controversy erupted, although they still carry the banner: "You're going to die anyway, so why not in Cambodia?"

Graham, who owns the Blue Mountain Coffee and Internet Cafe in Kampot, says he cannot understand why people are making such a fuss.

"It was a nice quiet little Web site," he told The Cambodia Daily