AFP
Southeast
Asian leaders were headed for Cambodia on Friday to pay their respects
to the country's late former king who navigated the kingdom through six
turbulent decades.
The prime ministers of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos will visit the royal
palace where revered ex-monarch Norodom Sihanouk is lying in state after
his body was brought home Wednesday to a sea of hundreds of thousands
of mourners.
They will be the first foreign leaders to pay their condolences at the palace.
The charismatic royal, known affectionately by his people as the
"King-Father", died of a heart attack in Beijing on Monday aged 89.
The visiting dignitaries will be greeted by members of the royal family
who will take them to the Throne Hall to see the body, according to
Sihanouk's long-time personal assistant Prince Sisowath Thomico.
"All the children of the King-Father have been asked to help out with receiving delegations from abroad," he told AFP.
Sihanouk, who towered over Cambodia through decades marked by
independence from France, civil war, the murderous Khmer Rouge regime
and finally peace, remained hugely popular even after abdicating in
favour of his son in 2004 citing old age and ill health.
He will lie in state for the next three months ahead of an elaborate
cremation ceremony. It is not yet known when members of the public will
be invited to visit Sihanouk's body.
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the high-ranking visits from
neighbouring nations showed that Southeast Asian nations were "one
family".
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (pictured) is expected to be granted an
audience with King Norodom Sihamoni during a one-day visit, her deputy
Yutthasak Sasiprapa told AFP in Bangkok.
He said the Thai premier had personally called her Cambodian counterpart
to smooth ruffled feathers after a Thai television reporter was
pictured standing with her feet near photographs of Sihanouk placed on
the ground.
The images spread like wildfire online and upset some Cambodians,
prompting an immediate apology from the journalist and her station.
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Thai PM to pay homage to late Cambodian King-Father Sihanouk
Source: Xinhua
PHNOM PENH, Oct. 19 — Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will visit Cambodia on Friday afternoon to pay her last tributes to late King-Father Norodom Sihanouk,
according to a media statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“She will lead a high delegation to pay last respects to the King-Father
at 3:30 pm on Oct. 19 at the capital’s Royal Palace,” the statement
said.
It added that after the ceremony, Yingluck will hold a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace.
Besides Yingluck, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Lao
Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong will also pay their last tributes to
the late King-Father this Friday afternoon at the Royal Palace.
The most revered ex-King Norodom Sihanouk died of illness at the age of
90 in Beijing last Monday and his body was transported to Phnom Penh by
Air China jumbo jet Wednesday afternoon. Hundreds of thousands of
mourners tearfully welcomed the return of his body.
The country announced a week-long mourning period from Oct. 17 to 23,
and the body of the King-Father will be exhibited for at least three
months at the Royal Palace before being cremated.
Born on Oct. 31, 1922, 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 was the king who led the country to gain independence from France in
1953. He was a presence through decades of political and social turmoil
in Cambodia, despite long periods of exile overseas.
He suffered from various forms of cancer, diabetes and hypertension and
had been treated by Chinese doctors in Beijing for years before his
death.
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