BEIJING: Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk, a revered figure in his home
country who had suffered from a number of ailments in recent years, died in
Beijing on Monday, Chinese state media said. He was 89.
"Norodom Sihanouk has died
in Beijing," Chinese state news agency Xinhua said, citing an unnamed
official without giving further details.
"Our former King died at
2:00 a.m. early Monday in Beijing due to natural cause," Cambodian deputy
prime minister Nhek Bunchhay told Xinhua by phone.
"This is a great loss for
Cambodia. We feel very sad. The former king was a great king that we all
respect and love him."
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni
and Prime Minister Hun Sen will fly to Beijing Monday morning to receive
Sihanouk's body for a traditional funeral in Cambodia, he added when contacted
by AFP.
The monarch had been a frequent
visitor to China, where he received the bulk of his medical treatment. He had
been staying at his Beijing residence since January.
"He had heart problems. He
was very steadily declining," Sihanouk's personal assistant Prince
Sisowath Thomico told AFP.
"It's painful. I am full of
sorrow," he said. "King Sihanouk did not belong to his family, he
belonged to Cambodia and to history."
One of Asia's longest-serving
monarchs, the former king abruptly quit the throne in October 2004 in favour of
his son, citing old age and health problems.
His had suffered from a series of
ailments, including cancer, diabetes and hypertension as well as the heart
problems.
Despite abdicating in favour of
his son Sihamoni, the ex-monarch remained hugely popular in his country, with
his portrait still adorning public buildings and many Cambodian homes, and he
sometimes used his website to communicate with the outside world.
In a message in January, he said
he wanted to be cremated upon his death and have his ashes kept in an urn
inside the Royal Palace, reversing an earlier wish to be buried.
His death comes on the final day
of Cambodia's annual festival for the dead, known as Pchum Ben, when most
Cambodians leave the capital city Phnom Penh to spend time with their families
in the countryside.
Cambodians believe their dead
ancestors emerge to walk the earth during this time, and they honour and
remember them with prayers and food offerings at Buddhist pagodas.
Prince Thomico believed
Cambodians would find it "significant" Sihanouk had died on the
ultimate day of the 15-day festival.
Twice exiled and twice returned
to the throne, Sihanouk lived a life almost as turbulent as his country's
history.
He was placed on the throne in
1941 at the age of 18 by French colonial authorities.
Twelve years later, he gained
Cambodia's independence and shortly after, quit the throne for the first time
in favour of his father Prince Norodom Suramarit to pursue a career in
politics.
Sihanouk served as premier half a
dozen times, repeatedly leaving the post with a characteristic flash of angry
theatre over perceived slights, until finally becoming "head of
state" following the death of his father in 1960.
He was toppled in a US-backed
coup by one of his own generals, Lon Nol, in 1970.
Sihanouk aligned himself with
communist guerrillas who later emerged as the Khmer Rouge and used him as a
figurehead before putting him under house arrest in the royal palace with his
family during their 1975-79 reign of terror.
He later condemned the Khmer
Rouge and regained the throne in 1993, having helped push for peace.
- AFP/fa
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