Cambodian FM says he is resigning

Cambodian FM says he is resigning

PHNOM PENH (Reuter): Cambodian Foreign Minister Prince Norodom Sirivudh, whose reformist political ally Finance Minister Sam Rainsy was sacked last week, said yesterday that he is quitting.

"I will present my request (to First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh) to resign," Sirivudh told reporters when he arrived from Thailand at Phnom Penh's Pochentong airport.

He declined further comment, saying only that he would inform the prime minister of his decision shortly.

"Even if he says he will resign he can still be persuaded to stay in his position by Ranariddh," a senior foreign diplomat told Reuters.

Cambodian lawmakers voted 90-13 in a secret ballot on Thursday to drop Sam Rainsy, a French-educated intellectual who was regarded as one of Cambodia's most able and honest administrators.

The ministers for agriculture and commerce also lost their jobs in a publicly stated bid to ensure cabinet unity.

There has been speculation for weeks in the Cambodian capital that Sirivudh would quit as foreign minister if the two co- premiers Ranariddh and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen dropped the finance minister.

Both Sirivudh and Sam Rainsy, who campaigned together for the royalist FUNCINPEC party in the run-up to the May 1993 UN- sponsored elections, were respected in diplomatic circles for battling corruption and have often been outspoken on controversial issues.

Sirivudh is the half-brother of head of state King Norodom Sihanouk. He has been foreign minister since June 1993 when FUNCINPEC and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) agreed to share power in a coalition government following the elections.