Member of Hun Sen's party killed

Member of Hun Sen's party killed

CAMBODIA: An avid supporter of Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party has been killed in the latest violence during the run-up to general elections, police said on Monday.

Two unidentified men gunned down Mom Piseth, 35, as he drove a motorcycle home from a birthday party on Sunday night, said Mom Sovath, a Phnom Penh district police chief. The gunmen exchanged fire with police before fleeing.

The motive of the killing appeared to be a "personal dispute not politics," Mom Sovath said.

But he and his deputy, Chuop Sok Heng, said that one day before the killing Mom Piseth had a brawl with his in-laws, who are affiliated with the Liberal Democratic Party - one of the 23 parties registered to compete in the July 27 election.

More than a dozen activists opposing Hun Sen's party have been slain in the past seven months. --AP