Sihanouk Says He Was Forced to Stay Abroad in 1970s

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 09, 2002

Sihanouk Says He Was Forced to Stay Abroad in 1970s

King Norodom Sihanouk has clarified that he was forced to reside abroad because Lon Nol staged a coup on March 18, 1970 to depose Prince Norodom Sihanouk.

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King Norodom Sihanouk has clarified that he was forced to reside abroad because Lon Nol staged a coup on March 18, 1970 to depose Prince Norodom Sihanouk.

The king's statement was contained in a letter delivered by the office of Royal Palace on Tuesday.

Sihanouk said in the letter that some Cambodians and foreigners had written that "Lon Nol hoped me to come back to Cambodia before the coup in order to gather with countrymen," but in fact, then he had no intention to stay abroad and wrote a letter to the countrymen, saying that "I would return back home after concluding my visit to great China."

He noted that on March 18, 1970, Lon Nol staged the coup and deposed him as the head of state. The Lon Nol group also declared that they prohibited the then Prince Sihanouk and his loyalists from returning back home, threatening to confiscate his plane if he flew back to Cambodia, the king said in his letter.

"Lon Nol phoned me by hot line, saying that I was not allowed to come back," King Norodom Sihanouk recalled.

He also said that in 1973, in his capacity as the chairman of the National United Front of Cambodia, he sent a message to the United States through a third country, expressing his hope to hold a negotiation with it in order to bring peace to Cambodia, but he was refused by the United States.

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