 |
| (Photo: Reuters) |
Reliable sources in Beijing, Singapore and Phnom Penh indicate that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a heavy smoker, is suffering from fast-evolving lung cancer.
The information comes from medical, diplomatic and private sources based in the three capital cities.
Hun Sen has been recently seen in hospitals in Singapore and Beijing at a time when there was no announcement of any trip abroad in the prime minister’s schedule.
In the second half of June 2010 Hun Sen disappeared for ten days, which prevented him from receiving UN envoy Surya Subedi, attending a meeting of the Council of Ministers and, more importantly, taking part in the ceremony commemorating the 59th anniversary of the ruling CPP on June 28 in Phnom Penh. The reason clumsily invoked for Hun Sen’s disappearance was “swine flu” but nobody in Cambodia believes in the official explanation. Five other Cabinet members, who had allegedly also caught the strange disease, knew nothing about it.
More recently, Hun Sen was not present in Cambodia when Thai troops started a strong border attack in the vicinity of Preah Vihear temple on February 4, 2011. He precipitously returned home and gave a confused explanation.
Hun Sen’s physical appearance and his way of speaking and gesturing have changed over the last few months.
He seems to be in a hurry to promote his son Hun Manet to a top position, notably in the Army, so as to replace him as the country leader in the near future. Preemptive moves – in the form of arrests of army and police officers belonging to a different clan – have been recently made to prevent any possible resistance to this replacement plan.
0 comments:
Post a Comment