(14 Jul 1997) English/Nat
Cambodia's coup leader Hun Sen said Monday he would welcome the return of his rival and ousted co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh back to the country.
However the former Khmer Rouge strongman said the Prince would have to answer to the courts.
Hun Sen led a military take-over in Phnom Penh, on July 5, effectively pushing Ranariddh and his Funcinpec troops out of the capital.
Ranariddh travelled to France one day before the July 5 coup and has since been trying to lobby support against Hun Sen's actions.
It was another day of public relations for Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, eleven days after his military take-over of the capital, Phnom Penh.
On Monday, he attended a temple opening ceremony in Kompong Thom province, where he eagerly greeted crowds and groups of monks.
Despite the light hearted atmosphere, the leader was under heavy security and took the opportunity to step up his rhetoric against the country's deposed First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh.
He called Ranariddh a "terrorist" and accused him of having direct links to organised crime in Taiwan.
However, Hun Sen said he would welcome Ranariddh's return to Cambodia.
SOUNDBITE (English):
"Now I invite him (Norodom Ranariddh) to Cambodia and the court invite him to come here. Because when Ranariddh leave here, I cannot attack him. He leave. He leave himself. Now he can come here, but the court (is) waiting (for) him."
SUPER CAPTION: Hun Sen, Cambodian coup leader
Hun Sen has repeatedly justified his take-over by claiming the prince was recruiting Khmer Rouge rebels to amass an offensive militia force.
On Monday, Hun Sen showed the crowd a document which he said proved Ranariddh had been close to a peace accord with the last hard-line holdouts from the dwindling Khmer Rouge army.
Hun Sen - a former Khmer Rouge cadre in the 1970's - led a Vietnamese-installed government in Phnom Penh that was bitterly opposed to the Khmer Rouge.
The coup leader also used his public appearance on Monday to lash out at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), saying his new government would withdraw its request for membership in the regional trade bloc.
ASEAN member states last week voted to delay Cambodia's entry into the organisation in the wake of his violent take-over.
Hun Sen accused ASEAN of trying to interfere in the internal affairs of Cambodia.
SOUNDBITE (English):
"We consider if we go to ASEAN or (if) we stop. I want (to) stop. I want (to) stop if ASEAN continues to interfere in our internal affairs. Now I want (to) withdraw."
SUPER CAPTION: Hun Sen, Cambodian coup leader
Despite Hun Sen's criticism of Ranariddh, he went to great lengths on Monday to distance Funcinpec from the prince's actions, saying the party still had a legitimate role to play in national politics.
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20 июл 2015
