Cambodian King-Father Sihanouk's body to be cremated in Feb. 2013

Norodom Sihanouk in 2006. Photograph: Mak Remissa/EPA

 

Xinhua | 27 October 2012 
By Agencies

The body of Cambodia's most revered former King Norodom Sihanouk will be cremated in the first week of February next year after a 3-month lying in state at the Royal Palace, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Saturday.

"According to the Royal Palace's soothsayers, the cremation of the King-Father's body can be held in the first week of February 2013," the premier said in a ceremony to deliver land titles to residents in Kampong Chhnang province. "The cremation will be done before the Chinese New Year."

He added that the government will erect a statue of the King- Father in a public park in the east of the Independence Monument for Cambodian people and foreign guests to pay their homage.

Hun Sen expressed profound thanks to Chinese leaders for their deep respect to the King-Father and for their arrangement of a special plane to bring the King-Father's body from Beijing to Phnom Penh.

Sihanouk died of illness at the age of 90 in Beijing on Oct. 15 and his body was returned home on Oct. 17.

After a week of mourning, his body has been lying in state for at least 3 months at the Royal Palace for the public to pay their last respects.

Sihanouk reigned the country from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his voluntary abdication on Oct. 7, 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni.

He led the country to gain independence from France in 1953. He had been living in exile during decades of political and social turmoil in Cambodia.

Sihanouk was named the father of independence, territorial integrity, and national reconciliation and unity.

He suffered from various forms of cancer, diabetes and hypertension and had been under medical treatment in Beijing for years before his death.