Wednesday, May 31, 1972
Turned Down Proposal To Return: Sihanouk
By Gemma Cruz Araneta
SHENYANG, China (AP) --Exiled Cambodian leader Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who has been living in China for two years, says disgruntled high ranking members of the Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh have secretly proposed his return to power, but that he has rejected their offer.Sihanouk said he received a letter from a Cambodian diplomat based in Australia who proposed Sihanouk's return under certain conditions.Sihanouk read long portions of the letter, which appeared to reflect a general weariness of the war which spilled over into Cambodia after Lt. Gen. Lon Nol seized power March 18, 1970.The letter specified two conditions for Sihanouk's return: a break with the Communist Khmer Rouge and replacement of Penn Nouth, premier of Sihanouk's exile government, by Son Ngoc Than, now a member of the Lon Nol government.Sihanouk rejected both conditions, saying, "I shall not abandon my Communist allies, my Khmer Rouge allies. I shall fight with them until our total victory.""Turned Down Proposal to Return: Sihanouk", by Gemma Cruz Araneta, published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Wednesday, May 31, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.