Hun Sen accepts Japan's plan on ousted Ranariddh

Hun Sen accepts Japan's plan on ousted Ranariddh

PHREK DACH, Cambodia (Reuters): Cambodian leader Hun Sen said
yesterday he accepted a Japanese plan for resolving Cambodia's
political deadlock, paving the way for the return of the co-
premier he ousted last year, Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

Hun Sen, who also appealed for King Norodom Sihanouk to return
to Cambodia, has been under international pressure to let
Ranariddh, deposed after bloody battles in Phnom Penh in early
July last year, participate in an election this July.

"My answer to the Japanese request is very positive. I support
it 100 percent," Second Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech
at the opening of a school 50 km south of the capital.

The Japanese government late last year proposed a compromise
formula under which the prince would be tried in absentia and
then receive a royal pardon, allowing him to contest the July
polls.

A senior representative of the prince said Ranariddh also
accepted the proposal.

Former First Prime Minister Ranariddh was abroad when he was
toppled. He was later charged with security-related crimes which
Hun Sen insists the prince must face before returning to
politics.

Ranariddh denies wrongdoing and says the charges are
politically motivated.

Hun Sen said the prince, whose forces have been fighting
government troops in pockets of remote territory with help from
Khmer Rouge guerrillas, must first sever ties with the rebels and
agree to a ceasefire, as the formula stipulates.

Hun Sen also said the prince's trial would take place,
clearing the way for him to receive a royal pardon.

Diplomats in Phnom Penh said there were fears the prince's
trial was being intentionally delayed, to put off the subsequent
steps for his return to Cambodia.

"The court really will put him on trial," Hun Sen said.
"They're not letting him off but it's been delayed a bit."

Ranariddh said in Bangkok last week he would return to
Cambodia by March 20, the deadline for registering as a candidate
in the polls.

Hun Sen also appealed to Sihanouk to return to Cambodia,
saying the king's presence was needed for the election and for
democracy.

"As for his majesty's return, we would welcome it. No one
wants the king to stay away from the country. We want him to
return," Hun Sen said.

Sihanouk has been at odds with Hun Sen since the July coup and
has been frustrated in efforts to mediate between his son,
Ranariddh, and Hun Sen.

An angry Sihanouk left Cambodia last month after a series of
attacks on him from Hun Sen's supporters, who pressed the monarch
to require the prince to ask for his own royal pardon.

The prince has refused to do so, saying it would be akin to
admitting guilt. Under the Japanese formula a close relative of
Ranariddh's can ask the king to grant the prince a pardon.

Sihanouk is staying in Beijing, where he has been receiving
medical treatment.

A senior representative of the prince, arriving in Phnom Penh
from Bangkok yesterday, said Ranariddh also welcomed the Japanese
formula and he would return by the March deadline to run in the
election.

"He is going to return and he is going to participate in the
forthcoming election," Tol Lah, secretary general of Ranariddh's
royalist party, told reporters.

Tol Lah, education minister in the pre-coup government, was
one of 36 Ranariddh supporters, arriving or due back in Phnom
Penh yesterday.