Cambodia's Rainsy plans return

Sam Rainsy is currently living in Paris

BBC News

Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who has been in self-imposed exile for a year, has said he will return home later this week.

Mr Rainsy had been sentenced in absentia to 18 months in jail for defaming the country's leaders, but was pardoned by the king last week.

The royal pardon came after Mr Rainsy apologised to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

But Mr Rainsy, in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, denied that this had compromised his integrity.

"I have to put aside past disputes in order to move ahead," he told the BBC World programme Asia Today.

He said his main objective - to reform Cambodia - remained the same.

"The situation has changed a lot in Cambodia and Hun Sen has understood that Cambodia needs a strong and vibrant opposition," he said.

Political shift

Mr Rainsy went to France last year after losing immunity from prosecution.

Then in December, a court sentenced him to 18 months in jail for defaming the leaders of the governing coalition.

The surprise request for a pardon came from Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Mr Rainsy's announcement came a day after the release of opposition MP Cheam Channy, who had spent a year in prison.

Several human rights activists who have been arrested over the last few months have had their charges against them dropped after they apologised to Hun Sen.

The BBC's Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh says a forthcoming meeting with Cambodia's major donor countries may have influenced events.

The international community had been highly critical of the arrests of opposition figures.