Exiled prince can return if king grants pardon<\/p>\n
PHNOM PENH (AFP): Cambodian Second Prime Minister Hun Sen
\nyesterday said he would not oppose the return of the exiled half-
\nbrother of King Norodom Sihanouk if the monarch grants the prince
\na pardon.<\/p>\n
The statement came just two days after Hun Sen threatened to
\nuse tanks and multiple rocket launchers to prevent Prince Norodom
\nSirivudh from returning home from exile in France.<\/p>\n
\"Prince Sirivudh has sufficient rights to return to Cambodia
\nsafely after he gets a pardon from His Majesty the king,\" Hun Sen
\nsaid in a speech at the Ministry of Veterans' and Social Affairs.<\/p>\n
\"If His Majesty the king gives him a pardon, I will support
\nit,\" he said, adding: \"I am ready to protect him at the airport
\nand will even buy him a first-class ticket.\"<\/p>\n
Prince Sirivudh was sent into exile last December for
\nallegedly plotting to assassinate Hun Sen. In February, he was
\nconvicted of criminal conspiracy and illegal weapons possession
\nand sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia.<\/p>\n
Despite the sentence hanging over him, the prince has
\nrepeatedly said in recent weeks that he wants to come back.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan said yesterday his
\nguerrillas would protect exiled Prince Norodom Sirivudh if the
\nprince returns to Cambodia.<\/p>\n
\"We will support and protect him,\" Khieu Samphan said in a
\nbroadcast on clandestine Khmer Rouge radio.<\/p>\n
Khieu Samphan offered to protect Sirivudh, adding that \"Hun
\nSen's declaration was very rude. It was not suitable for a prime
\nminister to say.\"<\/p>\n
Khmer Rouge hardliners recently vowed to kill Hun Sen.<\/p>\n
The hardliners have been angered by his encouragement of
\nrecent mass defections of Khmer Rouge troops to the government
\nside.<\/p>\n
Strike<\/p>\n
In a separate development yesterday, nearly 3,000 workers at
\nCambodia's largest garment factory walked off the job demanding
\nhigher wages and better conditions in the country's first ever
\nstrike.<\/p>\n
The strike came just three days after employees of Cambodia
\nGarment Ltd. organized a labor union with the help of prominent
\ndissident Sam Rainsy, president of the unrecognized opposition
\nKhmer Nation Party (KNP).<\/p>\n
Led by Sam Rainsy, the workers, including the three women who
\nfounded the union who had been suspended from their jobs Tuesday
\nmorning, sat and stood outside the factory, chanting and
\ncheering.<\/p>\n
\"We only earn 30 dollars a month -- one dollar a day,\" said
\none of the mainly young, female strikers. \"We want 50 dollars a
\nmonth, no more, and better working conditions.\"<\/p>\n
She said the three union organizers had been suspended for
\nencouraging other employees to join the union and lobby for
\nhigher wages.<\/p>\n
She and others complained that the company's Malaysian and
\nCambodian management were abusive, docked pay for time lost going
\nto the bathroom and fired people without proper justification.<\/p>\n
A management spokesman said the workers demands were illegal
\nand contravened Ministry of Industry regulations but would not
\nelaborate, saying the owner was going to fly to Cambodia from
\nMalaysia soon to resolve the situation.<\/p>\n
The spokesman said the company had been operating for nearly
\ntwo years without any problems and blamed the walk-out on Sam
\nRainsy's support for the union.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the strike, factory guards locked the
\nworkers inside and fired several shots in the air to prevent the
\ngates from being opened, witnesses said, noting however that no
\none was injured.<\/p>\n
It was unclear how long the workers would remain off the job,
\nbut officials from the Ministry of Industry were expected to try
\nto moderate.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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