Sihamoni and I exchanged in silence, and with a large smile of hope and joy, the birth and the taking flight of Heng Samrin's Liberation Front

Translated from French by Luc Sâr

History

The Last Days of the Pol Pot Regime and me
By N. Sihanouk

Beijing, December 25, 2006

1- The Angkar (i.e. the Khmer Rouge Leadership; “Angkar” means: “Organization”), in the first days of the war operations in Cambodia by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, decided to make me leave the Khemarin Palace to live in the former Residence of one of my dead aunts (from the famous Yukanthor-Malika family).

The Angkar executed the work well: I found this ex-old princely House completely remodeled and very appropriately furnished.

2- I still had with me my radio set (made in Germany). The Angkar allowed me the privilege to listen at will to radio broadcasts from France, the UK, the USA, the Philippines, etc… (including that of “Hanoi”).

And thanks to these radio broadcastings, I was up to date on the situation of our Country: Formation of H.E. Heng Samrin Front and “Liberation” of large portions of the Cambodian national territory, along the South, Southeast, Southwest.

My Son (the future King) N. Sihamoni and I exchanged in silence, and with a large smile of hope and joy, the birth and the taking flight of the Liberation Front presided by H.E. Heng Samrin.

3- In a foreign radio broadcast, it was announced that the North Vietnamese Armed Forces had sent a special commando towards to the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, with the mission of liberating me, as well as my Family. And that this commando, before reaching Phnom Penh, was completely wiped out by Pol Pot’s Khmer Army.

4- Mr. Pol Pot, the Great Dictator, invited me, late in the evening, to come and have a glass of orange juice (from Pursat) with him, at the Government Hotel (the former Residence of French Governors who were governing Cambodia during the Protectorate era).

He sent a beautiful limousine to bring me in.

Surprise! At my arrival, Mr. Pol Pot (I knew him, in the liberated zone of our Country, in 1973, under his real name and surname: Saloth Sâr. Thus, this famous and sinister Pol Pot was not unbeknown to me, he was the smiling and “nice” Saloth Sâr, met in 1973, and one of my “road Companions” in the liberated zones of Kampuchea!).

Mr. Pol Pot had “the kindness” to come down the few steps of the main stair to the “Government Palace,” near the Tonlé Sap river, to greet me when I got out of the car. He even had the kindness to salute me, smiling and “gentle,” with a Khmer traditional salute, the “Sampeah,” filled with politeness and “respect,” including a small curtsy, a “half-reverence”!!

Next to him, somewhat whithdrawn, was Mr. Ieng Sary, the ex-Khmer Rouge Grand Master in the PRC (Beijing).

I returned his “sampeah” to Mr. Pol Pot and I shook the hand of Mr. Ieng Sary.

(To be continued)

(Signed) Norodom Sihanouk