Cambodian opposition leader returns from exile

Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy was greeted by a huge crowd waving the Cambodian and SRP flags.
(Photo courtsey SRP)

AP News

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Exiled Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy returned home Friday to cheering crowds of supporters, just days after a royal pardon ended a long-standing fued with his rival, Prime Minister Hun Sen.

"I'm very happy!" Sam Rainsy shouted as he walked off the plane at Phnom Penh International Airport. "I feel very excited to have come back to Cambodia."

Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister and leader of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, went into self-imposed exile in France in February 2005 after being stripped of his parliamentary immunity and facing defamation allegations launched by Hun Sen.

More than 1,000 supporters crowded the airport's gates Friday, waving the Cambodian and opposition party flags.

"I'm so happy to be here to receive my leader today," said Ung Sam Ang, a 47-year-old opposition supporter in the crowd. Sam Rainsy arrived aboard a commercial flight shortly after 9 a.m. local time (0200 GMT).

The opposition leader and the prime minister have been political foes for years. Sam Rainsy is known for his sharp-tongued criticism of Hun Sen, often accusing the prime minister's government of corruption and human rights abuses.

In December, a court sentenced him in absentia to 18 months in prison on charges of criminal defamation for accusing Hun Sen of being behind a deadly grenade attack on a peaceful anti-government demonstration in 1997.

The court also found Sam Rainsy guilty of defaming Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the National Assembly president, by accusing him of taking bribes to have his royalist Funcinpec party join Hun Sen's government.

In a surprise move last week, Sam Rainsy recanted his accusation against Hun Sen and the prime minister accepted, in effect ending a long-running personal and political fued. Hun Sen then asked King Norodom Sihamoni to grant the opposition leader a royal amnesty, which the king issued on Sunday.

In his letter Friday to Hun Sen, Sam Rainsy said he will change his attitude in the future, referring to his sharp and often personal attacks on the prime minister. Hun Sen in his reply welcomed the gesture with an expression of hope that Sam Rainsy would soon be able to return to his political life in Cambodia.

The reconciliation could stand to have a major effect on Cambodian politics because much of the appeal of the opposition leader and his Sam Rainsy Party -- the sole opposition party in the National Assembly -- lay in its vocal criticisms of Hun Sen.

Sam Rainsy said earlier this week he made the surprise apology "in order to break the stalemate and allow Cambodia to move forward."

February 10, 2006