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Hundreds airlifted out of Phnom Pen
Subject: Hundreds airlifted out of Phnom Penh
Business Time July 9th
Hundreds airlifted out of Phnom Penh
[PHNOM PENH]
H
undreds of foreigners were airlifted out of Phnom Penh yesterday,
fleeing political turmoil and looting in Cambodia as co-premier Hun Sen
told the world to stay out of the country's affairs.
<Picture: AFP Photo> Escape route: Thai nationals rushing to board a
C-130 yesterday
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eight flights of Thai Air Force C-130s brought 800 people, mainly Thais
and some foreigners, from the Cambodian capital after three days of
violence that claimed at least 58 lives. More planes were due to fly out
later in the day.
The fate of some 200 tourists and aid workers trapped by fighting around
the northern town of Siem Reap, home to the fabled Angkor Wat temple
complex, was less clear.
A military official said they were being evacuated to Phnom Penh by
helicopter.
In the south, police in Sihanoukville said rival forces were also
fighting there.
Mr Hun Sen announced in a Sunday radio broadcast that Prince Ranariddh,
son of King Norodom Sihanouk who is now in Beijing, was no longer first
prime minister.
The prince denounced the move as a coup and yesterday told reporters in
Paris a new civil war could sweep Cambodia if Mr Hun Sen refused to
share power.
"I am willing to see Hun Sen to solve this problem in an existing legal
framework, but if we cannot, there would be, alas, a civil war in my
poor country," he said.
Prince Ranariddh urged the international community to "condemn the coup
d'etat" in Phnom Penh. He also claimed one of his close aides, Hor Sok,
had been murdered after being arrested on Monday by Mr Hun Sen's
soldiers.
But acting head of state Chea Sim, a member of the Cambodian People's
Party (CPP), sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday
saying Prince Ranariddh had created an "explosive situation" by bringing
armed Khmer Rouge guerillas into the capital.
Royalist Defence Minister Tea Chamrath, respected by both sides, was
planning to fly to Phnom Penh from Thailand today to try to maintain a
role for Prince Ranariddh's Funcinpec party in government.
Earlier Mr Hun Sen said the world should stay out of Cambodia's affairs.
"Let the Cambodian people solve this problem by themselves without any
interference and external pressure," he said in a speech on TV. --
Reuter, AFP
"THERE WILL BE NO REAL DEMOCRACY IF WE CAN'T GURANTEE THE RIGHTS OF THE
MINORITY ETHNIC PEOPLE. ONLY UNDERSTANDING THEIR SUFFERING AND HELPING
THEM TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS WILL ASSIST PREVENTING FROM THE
DISINTEGRATION AND THE SESESSION." "WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR
STRENGTH, WE CAN'T TOPPLE THE SLORC AND BURMA WILL NEVER BE IN PEACE."
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