Who's got the right flag

Who's got the right flag

BANGKOK (Reuter): Thai organizers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit scrambled yesterday to find the right Cambodian flag after they wrongly hoisted the flag of the hated Khmer Rouge.

Flags of the 10 Southeast Asian countries attending the two- day summit were flying over Government House, the prime minister's office, ready for a meeting of the leaders.

But the flag used by the Khmer Rouge when they were in power was mistakenly flown instead of the one for newly-democratic Cambodia.

Officials quickly hauled it down and looked for the new flag after the gaffe was pointed out.

Cambodia's co-premiers Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh are both enemies of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla army which ruled the country from 1975 to early 1979.

More than one million people are believed to have died from malnourishment, disease and execution under the rule of the radical leftist Khmer Rouge.

ASEAN groups, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The leaders of candidate ASEAN members Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are also attending the summit.