Nate Thayer

Frantic calls from Regent's Rm 406-Cambodian coup 1994 By Nate Thayer

Frantic calls from Regent's Rm 406

Phnom Penh Post

By Nate Thayer

Friday, 15 July 1994

The Post's Nate Thayer describes how he shared Prince Chakrapong's final hours in Cambodia after receiving a dramatic 6:30 am phone call.

Loyalist troops had taken positions throughout the capital on the night of July 2 as rumors swept the city that a coup attempt was imminent. Heavily armed soldiers were positioned outside the homes of government leaders and military installations by dark, and the children of senior officials were ordered to stay out of the city nightclubs.

Officials confirmed "there will be trouble tonight" and spoke of a coup attempt.

At 3:00 am government forces surrounded the houses of the alleged putsch leaders, who they named as former Interior Minister Sin Song and former Deputy Prime Minister Prince Norodom Chakrapong.

Their houses were invaded, and weapons and communication equipment seized. Sin Song was arrested and allegedly confessed to his role in launching a coup. Chakrapong had fled his house hours before security forces arrived.

At 6:30 am a call to this reporter said "call this number" and hung up. A jittery voice answered after I dialed the mobile phone. "This is Prince Chakrapong. Please, please help me," he said in a frightened broken whisper, "Come right away to the Regent hotel. They have surrounded me. They are trying to kill me."

In the 20 minutes it took for me to arrive, the Prince called me seven times begging for me to come quickly. "I am alone. Please, before they kill me, come now. Call the American Embassy and tell them my life is in danger."

He was obviously hoping that a foreign presence might prevent the security forces from harming him.

Government troops and security forces armed with machine guns, rocket launchers, and carrying walkie talkies were positioned on the street corners and entrance ways around the hotel near Monivong Boulevard when I arrived on the otherwise quiet early Sunday morning. But no one tried to stop me, probably thinking I was a hotel guest.

Inside, hotel workers, white with fear, stared blankly in response to my inquiry of where the alleged coup leader was staying. But maids hovering in an upstairs hallway, opened Room 401.

A disheveled, barefoot, and petrified son of King Sihanouk was found emerging from a crawl space above the ceiling of his hotel room, begging for help.

"Please, they are trying to arrest me. They will kill me. I am innocent. Please tell the American Ambassador to come right away. I need protection," the wide-eyed Prince said, near tears, and jittery from lack of sleep. He was alone. The bed was still made, and the curtains were drawn. A ceiling panel was removed revealing a small dark crawl space. A chair was under it to allow one to climb up. He said troops had been surrounding him since 3:00 am.

"I hear the rumor that I plan to make a coup d'etat. I am innocent. I have nothing in my hands. I have no political influence now. I have no troops," he said. "Please don't leave me."

So began a four-and-a-half-hour drama that, after scores of frantic phone calls and negotiations, ended with the Prince being whisked to the airport by military escort and forcibly exiled via a scheduled Malaysia Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur.

Frightened hotel staff hovered in hallways and peeked out of rooms in the otherwise completely silent hotel.

Realizing that there was no press or diplomats aware of the developments, and I was alone with a hunted, hated alleged coup plotter. Surrounded by troops clearly prepared to invade, I opted to rent my own room down the hall, with a better view of the troops, street, and hotel entrance way.

I went downstairs to the front desk asked for Room 406 and handed over cash. The desk clerk stared with a furrowed brow look of fear and alarm, said nothing, and handed me the key.

I thought that it might diminish the incentive of the troops outside to act precipitously if I was in a room rented under my own name, and buy time to interview the Prince. The Prince thought it was a great idea and came over to Room 406.

I made a quiet call to senior government contacts and diplomats informing them of the situation, hoping that they would get the message to the troops downstairs - quickly.

My phone rang a few minutes later, saying that Co-Prime Minister Ranariddh was aware I was with the man who allegedly was trying to topple his government and assassinate top officials.

The three mobile phones in my room rang constantly. More than 40 calls came in within the first two hours, as Chakrapong desperately tried to delay the troops from arresting him, and attempted to convince US Ambassador Charles Twining to give him political asylum.

Chakrapong repeatedly denied to me that he was involved in any coup attempt, cursed the leaders of the government, begged for my help and asked me not to leave him if the troops invaded.

He fielded phone calls constantly on his two phones, often listening silently and hanging up, speaking in English, French, and Khmer.

King Norodom Sihanouk rang from Beijing. "I am alright Papa, but the situation is bad. They have surrounded me," he said at one point.

As more calls came in he broke down and again moist-eyed. He looked dejected as Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk kept him up to date from Beijing with the state of her negotiations with government leaders over allowing him exile.

"It is not the Queen, but as my parents. It is not politics, it is as a son," he told me when asked whether King Sihanouk and Queen Monineath supported him.

For the first two hours, he was in fear of his life, convinced that if arrested he would be killed.

"They tell me that if we criticize the government, we are serving the interests of the Khmer Rouge. If I am arrested, the embassies must stay with me, to keep looking for me. Please don't let them take me anywhere. Please don't leave me alone," he said to me.

The Prince asked me to contact the US Embassy to request political asylum. I give him the mobile telephone number of the US Ambassador Charles Twining. He calls and Twining is put on the phone. "I ask your protection, your excellency. It is a human right. If you don't come to protect me I prefer not to go outside. I prefer to die here. I will stay here in the room. How can I trust them if they bring me somewhere?", he says to Twining.

Prince Chakrapong's face shows that the American Ambassadors response is not positive. "Please your excellency, if they bring me outside, if they arrest me, they will kill me."

Chakrapong hung up from Twining and went to look outside. The street was quiet save for troops standing guard. "Twining says 'you are not an American citizen, we cannot help you,' " he said.

"They say this is a liberal democracy," staring from behind the curtain down at the soldiers, "They are silencing all opposition now. We will all be accused of serving the interests of the Khmer Rouge. The whole world must know that this regime accuses me without proof. If the free world helps this regime it is the end of democracy."

Another American diplomat called my phone: "Tell Chakrapong he is not a US citizen. As long as the government proceeds in a legal fashion regarding his human rights, there is nothing we can do to interfere in a sovereign government."

But the American message of rejection of official protection was clear.

Crying young hotel maids burst into the room at one point: "The soldiers are coming. They are inside now."

A disheveled Prince - barefoot, shirt unbuttoned, sleepless, and dejected-began to put on his shoes. He handed me his wallet and mobile telephones and asked me to give them to his daughters. "Please make sure my daughters are alright. The soldiers invaded my house last night and they were there."

But the soldiers didn't come in. And the phones rang incessantly, sometimes three at the same time. At one point, Chakrapong had King Sihanouk on the line in one hand, and Twining on the other.

The Queen was still negotiating for safe passage out of the country.

Finally Prime Minister Ranariddh - Chakrapong's nemesis and half brother - agreed to allow the Prince to leave the country. "If I am allowed to join my family in Malaysia, I will accept," he said at one point.

By 10 am we saw Twining, other diplomats, and press begin to gather on the street, to the great relief of the Prince.

"I have given ten years of my life for my country for nothing. They are looking for a plane for me," he said after hanging up from a call from the queen.

"I want you to tell them I am innocent. I am a military man. I know how to make a coup. Now, I have no power and no forces. How can I make a coup? If I was to do something would I stay here in Phnom Penh?

"I left last night with no bodyguards to come to the hotel because I felt something was wrong. Like when I was in the jungle. I knew on the battlefield when something bad would happen. But I was not afraid because I was innocent."

The military called from downstairs to say that the troops were coming to our room now and that the Prince would be allowed to leave the country.

He turned to me: "Please do not leave me. I will only leave if you go with me to the airport in the same car. They may not take me to the airport."

There was a strong knock on the door and I went to open it. A score of heavily armed soldiers and security police waited in the hallway as Twining and Co-Minister of Interior You Hockry entered alone. The four of us sat down.

Hockry asked me to leave. Prince Chakrapong asked that I stay. I said nothing.

"We will promise your safety to the airport. I promise there will be no guns on the plane. The best thing for us it to bring you safely to the airport," Hokry told the Prince.

Men were sent to get passports and luggage at Chakrapong's house. A Malaysian Airlines plane was held on the tarmac at Pochentong as Chakrapong was assured that he would be allowed to safely leave the country.

The behavior of several Ministry of Interior police, who were poised to arrest the Prince until minutes before, now went through a bizarre somersault. They entered the room crouched on their knees and hands clasped to their heads in deference to Royalty as they went about their business preparing to send him to exile.

The Interior Minister said that Chakrapong's alleged collaborator, Sin Song, had confessed. "I think that one or two people cannot do this kind of thing. There will be more arrests," he said. Chakrapong stared blankly, with a mixed expression of anger and fear.

At one point, while, we waited for the motorcade and luggage downstairs, Twining turned to Hockry.

"I just remembered, there will be a fireworks display this afternoon at the fourth of July celebration," he said, suddenly realizing that, as a jittery city emerged from an attempted coup, explosions in the city might not be timely.

"Do you have authorization?" the Minister shot back to the Ambassador, with an alarmed look on his face.

When the mobile phone rang to say that the motorcade of troops was ready, we left the room to walk to the street. Hotel staff and soldiers clasped their hands and knelt in respect as Chakrapong was led by a bevy of sunglassed, automatic weapon-toting officials through a throng of cameras waiting on the street.

Shoved into a sleek Toyota with black tinted windows, we were whisked to the airport in a convoy of a score of cars, including one with Twining. Streets were blocked off and hundreds of people lined them to watch the motorcade pass. The plane was waiting at the airport, full of curious passengers, as Chakrapong was whisked on board and the flight departed.

He called several hours later from Malaysia saying: " I want to thank you sincerely for saving my life. They would have killed me if you had not come. I am innocent. I was not involved in anything. Tell them I am innocent."

Security jitters while PMs away--Nate Thayer

Security jitters while PMs away
By Nate Thayer

(Note: The Phnom Penh Post, and its Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Michael Hayes, at a news conference held by the Cambodian Minister of Information Khieu Khanharith, was informed that a criminal complaint was filed against the Post and Hayes personally for the publication of the below article.  Khanharith said the case was filed by both Prime Ministers and the charges were “disseminating disinformation” and “creating political instability”. After a substantial international reaction, the government never pursued the charges.)

Phnom Penh Post

Mar 24 - April 6, 1995

        The absence of much of the country's leadership while attending
ICORC in Paris earlier this month set off a chain of events reflecting the
deep distrust dividing the three primary factions within the government and
official jitters about activities of critics outside of the government.
        While life in the city remained normal and serene on the surface,
behind the scenes various political power blocs were on the alert for
perceived enemies.  Rumors of possible demonstrations, coup attempts,
prison breakouts and palace intrigue swept government military and
intelligence circles in the absence of the two prime ministers.
        Second Prime Minister Hun Sen left Cambodia to join First Prime
Minister Ranariddh in Paris on Mar 10, making it the first time since last
August that both prime ministers had been absent from the country at the
same time.
        Last August, the two prime ministers insisted at the last minute
that Co-Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng accompany
them on their state visit to Malaysia, afraid to leave him in Phnom Penh,
according to government and diplomatic sources.  In his capacity as
co-deputy prime minister, Sar Kheng shares the role of head of government
with Co-Deputy Prime Minister Ieng Kiet in the absence of the prime
ministers.
        But this time, the prime ministers neglected to sign the documents
formally transferring authority in their absence.  Diplomats and government
sources say that for 24 hours until Mar 11 there was no one formally in
power in Cambodia until the leaders were tracked down in France and
convinced to sign the papers.  Meanwhile, Hun Sen ordered his secret police
to monitor closely the telephone conversations, movements and meetings of
Sar Kheng while the second prime minister was overseas, according to senior
govenment sources.
        On Saturday, Mar 11, Sar Kheng dispatched "several hundred"
security personnel on high alert to monitor "unusual movements around the
city by military [personnel and] because of rumors of demonstrations or
coup attempts," according to sources close to him.
        In separate events, the military was put on alert and large numbers
of troops were dispatched by different political leaders--often without
informing or coordinating with each other--in preparations to put down
possible disturbances.
        Co-Defense Minister Tea Chamrath on Mar 22 denied that there was
any unusual military activity.  "There are no troop movements, everything
is normal," he told the POST, saying that there was no increased state of
alert. But several other senior officers confirmed a "state of alert,
precautionary measures because of rumors of demonstrations."
        Sar Kheng was not informed of hundreds of provincial based forces
loyal to Hun Sen who were secretly brought in from the provinces on Sunday,
Mar 12 and remained stationed at press time on key roads on the outskirts
of Phnom Penh waiting for orders to enter the city in case of disturbances.

        "We were ordered to come here to protect against a possible coup
attempt by the CPP," said one soldier interviewed by the POST in a
frightened whisper,saying his commander had ordered absolute secrecy of
their mission.  His unit of 300 was brought from Kompong Cham and stationed
at a pagoda 12 kilometers north of Phnom Penh in Bak Kheng village.  "We
were told that if nothing happens in two weeks we wil go back, but there
might be another time."
        As well, 300 "special troops" brought in from Kampot are located on
Route 3 on the outskirts of Phnom Penh for similar purposes, said a senior
military general, "They are the troops of the second prime minister," he
said.  Other similar strike forces are located on other major routes
entering the city, say military and diplomatic sources, but no clear figure
of exactly how many could be confirmed.
        Senior Hun Sen loyalists in the military insist they had strong
evidence that a demonstration was scheduled for Thursday, Mar 16 by
"military personnel, intellectuals, and students.  Their slogans were the
necessity of national reconciliation, support the King, and oppose
corruption," according to a senior diplomat with close ties to the CPP.
Hun Sen loyalists inside the military assured diplomats:  "The CPP is fully
aware of the situation and it is completely under control.  Nothing will
happen."
        "We were told there was a plan for demonstrations or coups against
the government so that is why there are troop movements," said a perplexed
senior diplomat, "but maybe the main reason is simple distrust among the
factions in the leadership."
        On Tuesday, Mar 14, CPP strongman Chea Sim requested an audience
with the King and informed him of possible coup attempts in the making.
One source quoted Chea Sim as telling King Sihanouk, "According to the
rumor there will be a coup and this coup will come from the Royal Palace.
But, of course, we don't believe you are involved."
        Said a diplomat close to the CPP: "The meaning of Chea Sim's visit
to King Sihanouk was:  'If you [should] dare do something, the reaction
will be very strong.' "
        Within 48 hours Sihanouk abruptly announced that he would be
departing for Beijing for medical reasons, citing test results from doctors
at the Pasteur Institute that required follow up by Chinese doctors.  But
sources close to the King acknowledge that "The King is not happy that
people are using his name.  he is accused of joining Sam Rainsy or Son Sann
or trying to make a coup.  He doesn't want to be forced to be involved or
be seen as a mastermind."  The King departed for Beijing Mar 22.
        At the same time, rumors of an attempted prison breakout of
convicted coup plotter Sin Sen from Phnom Penh's T-3 jail led to secret
police cordoning off the jail on Mar 16 and reinforcements sent to beef up
prison security, ordered by Funcinpec Co-Minister of Interior You Hokry.
Sources close to Sar Kheng say that he was not informed of the security
reinforcements at T-3 until afterwards.  "You Hokry ordered Funcinpec men
to be on alert," said a senior govenrment source close to You Hokry, "He
does not trust Sar Kheng or Hun Sen--so he ordered his own troops to be on
alert, not just T-3 but all over the city.  You Hokry has no confidence in
anyone, that is clear."
        According to sources close to You Hokry, he received intelligence
around Mar 13 that guards at T-3 were "preparing to look the other way" as
an attempt would be made to breakout Sin Sen.  You Hokry dispatched 40
additional plain clothes guards on Mar 16, bringing to a total of 90 the
number of guards at the prison by the end of the week.  Roads around T-3
were blocked to traffic, and undercover security patrols remained heavy at
press time.  All visits to Sin Sen by family and doctors were suspended ,
according to prison officials.  You Hokry acknowledged the increased
security at T-3, when contacted by the POST on Mar 22, but deemed it a
"routine precaution; it is normal,"  he said.
        The last time Hun Sen was in Paris in August for medical treatment,
accused Sin Sen coup collaborator Sin Song escaped from prison under
circumstances that strongly suggest official assistance from sectors of the
government, government and diplomatic sources agree.
        The backdrop to all these high level official jitters are persistent intelligence reports that there may be further disturbances,including Khmer Rouge terrorist attacks, in Phnom Penh around the Khmer New Year and 20th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge victory in
mid-april.   Rumors of secretly planned demonstrations that openly confront
the government and call for a return to power of the king abound.
        Government intelligence sources say they have firm evidence that
the Khmer Rouge have infiltrated explosives and special units into Phnom
Penh in recent weeks for such a purpose. "We know that the Khmer Rouge have
smuggled at least two 107 rockets from Kompong Thom, but we lost track of
them outside of Phnom Penh.  We do not know where they are now," said a
senior government official.
        One hundred seven mm rocket launchers are a portable weapon with a
firing range of seven kilometers, and officials fear that the rebels may
fire them into the city, according to sources.
        But even many of the senior government sources say that in fact
there is little hard evidence that disturbances are planned.  "The one
thing that is sure is that nobody trusts each other.  That is very clear,"
said one senior government official.
        Other officials say that the insistence that antigovernment
activity is imminent may be just pretext to use to crackdown on dissent
within the government which has greatly angered senior officials in recent
months.  'It's like they're preparing public opinion," said an official in
reference to official intelligence of demonstrations of khmer Rouge
terrorism.  "These rumors of manifestations ["demonstrations"]  are mainly rumors with no substance when you look behind each one.  They may be creating an atmosphere to use as a pretext to crackdown."  He cited the constitutional allowance for the prime ministers
to "declare a state of emergency" in the case of civil unrest.
        Human rights officials say that the prime ministers' call to shut
down the UN Centre for Human Rights, the numerous censures of opposition
press in recent months, and the legal preparations by the government to
charge maverick MP Sam Rainsy with what ammounts to treason, are the
beginning of an official effort to put an end to criticism of the
government that leaders say undermines its image at home and abroad as a
democratic country.
        On the night of Mar 22, 15 armed men from the government's
Bodyguard Protection Unit came to Rainsy's house and ordered Rainsy's
bodyguards to return to their barracks.  Interior Minister You Hokry
confirmed later that night that the move was an official order.  "It is not
the job of the government to protect MPs," he said.
        The bodyguards were the same personnel who had protected Rainsy
before he was sacked last September as finance minister.  Senior government
officials say it is part of an officially sanctioned campaign of
intimidation that has been ordered by senior officials to begin against
Rainsy with the objective of frightening him to silence his criticism or
leave the country.  "There will be a show of force.  Rainsy is in big
trouble, real danger," said the official, with close ties to the government
security apparatus.  "They will at first only try to frighten him and his
wife.  But they will do whatever is necessary to stop him in the end."
        The official said that the strategy, led by the second Prime
Minister Hun Sen, is based on the theory that if Rainsy is allowed to
succeed in his criticism it may give ammunition to other government
critics, many now frightened into silence, to speak out.  "If Rainsy is
allowed to win, other MPs could view him as a martyr. Then other voices
will be raised.  It is unacceptable to allow the National Assembly to
become a real democratic institution.  The two PMs must maintain control
over the National Assembly [and] not allow it to be an independent force."

        Prime Minister Ranariddh said last week, "I am sorry Sam Rainsy was
finance minister.  I am sorry he is in Funcinpec.  I am sorry he is a
Khmer."

'Coup' plot thickens

'Coup' plot thickens

Phnom Penh Post

Friday, 15 July 1994

By Nate Thayer

TWO weeks after factions in the government stifled an alleged coup plot involving-at the least-powerful elements of the security forces, jittery leaders are privately accusing each other of betrayal and internal power plays, rocking the already fragile coalition government.

While more questions were raised than answered by the government's explanation for the coup bid, the move has forced to the surface simmering tensions within the administration.

While the government leadership remains intact on paper, the aftermath of the coup has exposed a traumatic-and dangerous-split in the Cambodian People's Party-the dominant factions within the coalition.

This comes weeks after a public split within Funcinpec, the other main partner in the coalition.

While several senior officials of the CPP connected to the powerful Interior Ministry have been arrested or accused, it is accepted by diplomats and senior government officials from both parties that a much larger story of skullduggery, backstabbing, and Machiavellian politics between senior political figures lies at the root of the affair.

Some believe the coup attempt had a three-fold objective, firstly against Funcinpec, secondly against the King's recent initiative to assume temporary authority, thirdly, perhaps, against CPP Co-Prime Minister Hun Sen.

According to this theory, this was a conspiracy to consolidate control over the government by powerful factions within the CPP allied to the CPP tightly-controlled security services and Sar Kheng.

Others were convinced that Hun Sen organized a fake coup plot to undermine the growing power of his CPP colleagues, who he feared were seizing real control over the state and party at his expense.

What is apparent is that the events were, as a senior Party official said, "an internal CPP matter."

While confirmed facts are scarce and rumors and speculation abound, the events appeared to evolve sometime around 1 pm on Saturday, July 2.

It was then that Secretary of State for Defense Chhay Sung Yung approached the chief of the military court with an order to arrest three senior generals of the Defense Ministry-Gen Pan Thai, Gen Nyek Bun Chay, and Gen Kreuch Yeum. The military court official was skeptical that the order had real authority and informed Hun Sen, who then ordered Chan Sung Yung to his residence. All three generals were from non-CPP former resistance factions who controlled significant troops in the new integrated army that emerged after elections.

The objective of the arrests was to prevent army-which is not under the full control of the CPP-from mobilizing opposition to the coup makers. The men alleged to be coup plotters by the government are mostly associated with the CPP-controlled security apparatus from the Ministry of Interior and the army appeared to play only a minor role in the affair.

The failure of the attempt to arrest the three generals began the unraveling of the plot, with details provided by Chhay Sung Yung's confession.

He is said to have implicated Sin Song and Prince Chakropong in the plot, before Hun Sen allowed him-inexplicably-to leave, whereupon he fled to Vietnam.

At 5 pm on July 2, 12 armored personnel carriers and under 300 troops, said to be loyal to Sin Song, left the eastern province of Prey Veng and headed for the capital to launch a coup against the government.

Hun Sen consulted Minister of Justice Chem Sngoun, who said despite Gen Chay Sung Yung having fingered Sin Song, there were insufficient grounds to arrest the former National Security Minister.

But once the movement of troops had been confirmed, the arrest order was approved.

According to several sources, Hun Sen failed to notify Co-Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh until 5 pm or his Minister of Interior Sar Kheng until 6 pm-hours after the alleged coup bid began.
Importantly, Sar Kheng, who as Interior Minister ultimately controls the important secret police and security forces, was not informed of the coup attempt for a full five hours after his CPP colleague and Prime Minister, Hun Sen, began plans to quell the plot.

Government and diplomatic sources say that is clear that Sar Kheng was not informed because either Hun Sen suspected that he had a hand in the coup attempt, or that the Second Prime Minister was orchestrating a complicated pot against Sa Kheng.

They say that even after Sar Kheng was summoned to Hun Sen's residence-the command center to quell the coup-he was not given authority to supervise his duties as head of the interior ministry until the plot was quelled.

In what analysts see as a highly unusual move, CPP leader Hun Sen used Funcinpec forces-co-minister of Interior You Hokry and his Funcinpec associates and those of former KPNLF General Pan Thai, to quell the coup attempt.

By dusk on Saturday night, government troops took up positions at the homes of major government leaders in Phnom Pneh, and word spread rapidly of a coup attempt overnight in the city. Government officials and their families were warned to stay at home.

The APCs and rebel troops were stopped by loyalist forces 25 km from Phnom Penh at Dei Eth at 8 pm without a confrontation, and eventually allowed to return to barracks unpunished.

Government troops led by Gen Pan Thai, stormed the houses of out-of-favor CPP leaders Prince Norodom Chakrapong and Sin Song and seized a small amount of weapons and communication gear.

Former National Security Minister Sin Song was arrested and former Deputy Prime Minister Prince Chakrapong-after a several-hour standoff at the Regent Hotel off Monivong Boulevard-was allowed to go into exile in Malaysia.

On the afternoon of July 3 government spokesman Sieng LaPresse said that "one armed group led by Sin song and Prince Chakrapong" attempted "to create disorder" and assassinate senior government and military officials.

He said the threat had subsided without any shots fired, and the rebel troops had been allowed to return to their barracks.

"Those guys realized they made the wrong move and want to go back to serve the government," Lapresse said.

Government leaders moved quickly to contend that a major threat to the coalition had been thwarted.

"We arrested Sin Song because he had confessed to what he had done," Co-Minister of Interior You Hokry told the Post on July 3, "I think that one or two people cannot do this kind of thing. There will be more arrests. But this is a personal and individual act-this is not a CPP policy."

Government officials fuelled confusion about the plot by giving conflicting accounts about the motives of the two alleged ringleaders.

Coalition spokesmen said Sin Song had confessed and said the reason he gave for the coup was that King Sihanouk had suggested bringing back the Khmer Rouge in a government of national unity, which was, to him, unacceptable.

But Interior Minister Sar Kheng said: "According to what we intercepted from phone conversations and other people was that Chakrapong was involved in a coup and his objective was to give power to the King."

Just as confusingly Hokry told the Post on July 3, shortly before he escorted Chakrapong to the airport, that: "We have no evidence to accuse him [Chakrapong]. That is why we are letting him go."

What seems to be the only consensus is that Chakrapong and Sin Song's involvement is the tip of the iceberg of deeper plots within the government to stifle suspected opposition and consolidate power from within.

Senior government sources involved in the interrogation of Gen Sin Song-who allegedly controlled the small group of rebel forces-say he has "threatened to reveal very high government officials who supported him" On Tuesday July 5 one name he allegedly reveal was his colleague Sin Sen.

Gen Sin Sen, the Secretary of State of the Interior Ministry, who, along with Sing Song, holds great power and influence over the national police units, was arrested at the airport on Wednesday, July 6, as he was prepared to make a routine, pre-scheduled working visit to Malaysia. His bags had already been loaded on the plane and he was waiting in the VIP lounge.

Sin Sen was arrested along with his powerful deputy, Gen Tes Choy. Tes Choy controls the elite A-3 police forces and "protection" units, responsible for security of leaders, VIPs and Phnom Penh.

All of the officials implicated are known to have close links to the faction within the CPP led by party President Chea Sim and Co-Interior Minister Sar Kheng.

On Tuesday, July 7, at a highly charged private dinner of senior CPP officials Chea Sim issued a stern warning to Hun Sen to end the arrests, or risk a backlash. Hun Sen agreed, after it was clear that a push for more arrests would likely result in armed conflict and a collapse of both the party and government, sources said.

On July 8 and 9, government leaders-including both Prime Ministers and both Interior Ministers-in their first show of unity since the events began, issued strong joint warnings to the media and officials against "spreading rumors" that cause "divisions among the leadership" to try to stifle what was by then an open secret that powerful figures in the government were deeply embroiled in a power struggle.

They backed up their threat by arresting Ngoun Noun, editor of the popular Khmer paper the Morning News, which had insinuated in July 8 editions that Sar Kheng was involved in the plot.

Whoever was behind the events starting on July 2, Cambodian officials and diplomats acknowledge that there has indeed been serious talk of a coup for several months among CPP officials upset with recent political developments.

Sources confirm that the United States and others had wind that coup plots were in the air for more than two months, and had specifically informed government officials in recent weeks-including Sin Song and Sar Kheng-that the United States would refuse to support any government that emerged from a putsch.

Tensions within the government have increased dramatically in recent weeks after King Norodom Siihanouk called in mid-June for a new government, which would bring in the Khmer Rouge in an effort to end the civil war.

The CPP, in May during private party meetings, reacted strongly against earlier suggestions by the King that the Khmer Rouge be included in a national reconciliation government and that the King be given real powers to administer the state.

Last week, at the prompting of the CPP, the National Assembly officially outlawed the Khmer Rouge, in a move that directly opposed the King's peace initiatives.

Divisions within Funcinpec, that included a public split in June between Finance Minister Sam Rainsy along with Foreign Minister Norodom Sirivuddh against party boss Prince Ranariddh, also spelled to many in the CPP that the government was being allowed to get dangerously factionalized.

The tension within the government in recent weeks has caused serious concern among the CPP in particular that it could cause the collapse of the fragile coalition of former enemies.

An internal CPP document dated June 29 obtained by the Post, demands that all party members sign an oath of loyalty to not criticize the government or Party.

"All levels of officials and members of the CPP must avoid directly or indirectly criticizing the Royal Government, which will only hinder the process of national reconstruction and serve the advantage of the enemy," said the document.

It was in this atmosphere that some intelligence analysts and government officials concluded that the coup was organized at the highest level by dominant figures within the CPP to attain an iron grip over the government after weeks of open dissent among government officials.

The CPP-the former communist party installed by Vietnam-are unused to debate or dissent that has been forced on them in the wake of the UN-organized elections that created a multiparty system of former battlefield enemies within the government.

According to supporters of this theory, the CPP coup plotters-which included, among others Sin Song, Sin Sen, and had, at the least, the knowledge and tacit approval of Sar Kheng and Chea Sim-planned to seize temporary power but retain the National Assembly and Constitution so as to preserve the image of success of the $2 billion dollar Untac mission and maintain the flow of foreign aid.

This theory then has a cowed National Assembly electing a new Prime Minister, likely to have been Sar Kheng, according to sources.

Sar Kheng denied to the Post any prior knowledge or involvement of the coup plots.

Evidence suggests, according to these sources, that the coup plotters were to rely on the highly politicized national police force under the Ministry of Interior.

The post has learned that thousands of new style military uniforms were covertly delivered from Thailand in recent weeks, and were said to be targeted to outfit the police forces to replace the army in the event of a successful coup.

Intelligence sources, diplomats, and government officials say they have strong evidence that both Chakrapong and Sin Song had traveled to Vietnam and Thailand in recent weeks seeking support for launching a coup.

But diplomats and even government officials themselves agreed that neither Chakrapong nor Sin Song had either a political power base nor controlled sufficient armed forces to launch a coup attempt alone.

"I have no power and I have no forces. How can I make a coup?" Chakrapong said while holed up in a hotel room surrounded by troops during the waning hours of the drama on July 3.

Many suggested that the two leaders this time had been promised support, and then betrayed by more powerful figures within the ruling government.

"These two people are not stupid. If they were to launch a coup, they would not do alone," said a senior government official.

Sar Kheng, considered one of the most powerful figures in both the CPP and the government, gave credence to this view in an interview with the Post on July 5.

He said: "You are right to say there should be someone powerful enough to launch a coup involved. That is why we will investigate further."

He said the government would form a military inquiry board to seek other plotters out.

But he acknowledged he himself has been the target of suspicion.

"We want to clarify some speculation you may have heard that His Excellency Sar Kheng was involved in that [coup] attempt," government spokesman Lapresse said on July 3, "Not so. When the attempt took place Sar Kheng was in the Prime Minister's residence."

Sar Kheng also denied involvement during his interview with the Post. "I can tell you that I am not directly or indirectly connected whatsoever in the coup attempt.

"I have one thing to say. I only knew about this event after it happened. As Minister of Interior I should know before. I was not in control until after."

Analysts say that if a coup involving Chakrapong and Sin Song was indeed planned, there had to have been figures with political legitimacy to lead a new government, and that neither of the figures would have attempted a coup without the support of more powerful figures.

The two accused plotters led an aborted secessionist movement of seven eastern provinces in June 1993 in protest of UN-organized elections which saw their party lose to the royalist Funcinpec.

The movement then had the covert backing of their Cambodian People's Party leaders-including Hun Sen, Chea Sim, and Sar Kheng-and resulted in forcing the fragile power sharing arrangement of the current coalition government.

Sources told the Post that Vietnam informed Cambodian leaders of the plot after Sin song and Chakrapong went to Hanoi in recent weeks seeking weapons. The two were also said to have gone to Thailand on a similar mission.

While gaping holes remained in the government version of who was ultimately involved in the coup attempt, Cambodian leaders suggested Thailand had a hand in the affair. Fourteen Thais detained at Pochentong on July 3 were investigated for links to Sin Song.

"We are waiting for one witness that told us that there are nine Thai specialists on radio communications, on weapons, on explosives who are now in Cambodia," First Prime Minister Ranariddh said on July 7.

The accusations have severely strained an already dismal relationship with Thailand after months of Cambodian accusations of official Thai support for the Khmer Rouge.

Strong evidence has emerged, according to diplomatic and government sources, that senior Thai officials were aware of the coup attempt and had consulted with the plotters in recent weeks.

There is no proof that the Thai officials were acting with the approval of the Thai government.

Diplomats and government officials say there are also unconfirmed reports that weapons shipments arrived to the coup plotters via Thailand in the days before the coup.

What most analysts agree is that there has been treachery within the ranks of the coup plotters and between government leaders, and the real powers behind the turmoil have yet to emerge.

But some observers contend that, even though it is expected eventually to become clear who were the real powers behind the move, they may remain too powerful to confront without risking a real collapse of the government and it may take months before the real story emerges.

 

Rebel Group Outlawed by Cambodia; Thais Implicated In Coup Attempt

Rebel Group Outlawed by Cambodia; Thais Implicated In Coup Attempt

The Washington Post

July 8, 1994 | Nate Thayer

Cambodia today passed controversial legislation to outlaw the Khmer Rouge rebel group, raising tensions in a government still jittery from a weekend coup attempt.

After the 98 to 1 vote in the National Assembly, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who holds the title of first prime minister in a shaky coalition government, called on all countries to bar Khmer Rouge members from their territory and "arrest those outlaws" who he said will be named on government lists of Khmer Rouge officials. His remarks were aimed primarily at neighboring Thailand, where military officers and businessmen have long maintained ties with the notorious communist guerrilla group.

At the same time, however, Ranariddh publicly accused Thai citizens of involvement in the coup plot, which was apparently directed against him and his royalist Funcinpec party by hard-line supporters of the Cambodian People's Party, his main coalition partner.

So far, authorities have arrested 14 Thais connected to a Cambodian general who confessed to involvement in the plot, and a number of others are being sought. Ranariddh said they included a Thai police official and nine Thai specialists in radio communications, weapons and explosives.

According to Cambodian officials and diplomats, the heavy emphasis on Thai involvement appears partly intended to deflect attention from the role in the plot of senior officials of the coalition government. The sources said the coup attempt, which had been in the works for months, stemmed from a broad-based plot by hard-liners in the People's Party to stifle growing dissent among their partners in Funcinpec. The royalist party won last year's U.N.-sponsored elections but has been unable to wrest real power from the formerly communist People's Party, which had ruled Cambodia since 1979 but finished second in last year's voting.

Strains within the coalition intensified after the People's Party rejected a suggestion by King Norodom Sihanouk in mid-June that a national unity government be formed that would include the Khmer Rouge. Today's legislation to outlaw the radical guerrilla group, accused of killing 1 million people while it held power in the late 1970s, has exacerbated splits within the government. Some Funcinpec leaders described it as a move to further sideline Sihanouk and consolidate the People's Party's grip on power.

On Wednesday, security forces arrested Gen. Sin Sen, the number-two official in the powerful Interior Ministry, on charges of involvement in the conspiracy.

The coup attempt started when a dozen armored personnel carriers and 300 rebel troops left the eastern province of Prey Veng for the capital late Saturday afternoon. It ended Sunday when supporting elements failed to materialize and a distraught Prince Norodom Chakrapong, Ranariddh's estranged half-brother and one of the alleged coup leaders, was allowed to fly into exile in Malaysia after pleading for his life in frantic negotiations by mobile phone from a Phnom Penh hotel room.

Chakrapong, 49, a son of King Sihanouk, initially eluded arrest and went into hiding in Phnom Penh's Regent Hotel. From there, he contacted this reporter at 6:30 a.m. Sunday, begging me to come quickly to the hotel in apparent hopes that the presence of a foreign journalist would prevent security forces from killing him.

What followed was a bizarre 4 1/2-hour drama in which the terrified prince engaged in desperate phone negotiations with Cambodian intermediaries, the American ambassador and, in calls from Beijing, King Sihanouk and Queen Monique.

After making my way past government troops and security forces posted outside the hotel with machine guns and rocket launchers, I found Chakrapong, disheveled, barefoot and wide-eyed with fear, emerging from a crawlspace above the ceiling of his room.

"Please, they are trying to arrest me," he pleaded. "They will kill me. I am innocent. Please tell the American ambassador to come right away. I need protection."

Agitated and near tears, he repeatedly denied any involvement in the coup attempt, cursed government leaders and begged me not to leave him in case troops invaded the hotel. He fielded calls constantly on two mobile phones, speaking in English, French and Khmer.

At one point he had Sihanouk on the phone in one hand and U.S. Ambassador Charles Twining on the line in the other. But it was his stepmother, Queen Monique, who appeared to take a leading role in negotiating with government leaders on Chakrapong's behalf to let him leave the country.

"I am all right, Papa, but the situation is bad," he told Sihanouk at one point. "They have surrounded me."

He pleaded with Twining for political asylum but was told the embassy could not help him. Twining eventually showed up at the hotel and joined Interior Minister You Hokry in discussions with Chakrapong on his departure from the country.

"I am a military man," Chakrapong told me in protesting his innocence before being whisked to the airport in a heavily armed convoy. "I know how to make a coup. Now I have no power and no forces. How can I make a coup?"