HM the King and world leaders pay respect to Cambodia's deceased former king
Phnom Penh - Thai monarch and world leaders expressed sympathy over the death of Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk Tuesday as the country prepared for the return of his remains.
HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Monday expressed his "profound feelings of sadness" at the death of former Cambodian monarch. The Thai King sent his condolences to Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni over the death of his father.
"The Queen and I have learnt with deepest sorrow of the demise of His Majesty the King Father Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia," he said in a statement released by his principal private secretary.
The former Khmer king died Monday in Beijing of old age, the government said. The 89-year-old was a significant political figure in Cambodia for nearly 60 years.
"The Kingdom has lost a father," Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam wrote in a letter to Sihanouk's son, King Norodom Sihamoni.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged Sihanouk's "long dedication to his country and his legacy as aunifying national leader."
Born during French colonial rule, he campaigned for his country's1953 independence, only to see it descend into war and rule by the1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, which killed an estimated 1.7 million to2.2 million people.
French President Francois Hollande expressed his condolences athearing of the former king's death.China's official Xinhua news agency said Premier Wen Jiabao had visited Cambodia's royal family to express his sympathy on Monday.
Sihanouk's body will be sent back to Cambodia on Wednesday afternoon, his assistant Prince Sisowath Thomico told Xinhua. "According to Cambodia's monarchic tradition, the body of theKing-Father will be exhibited for 3 months at the Royal Palace before being cremated in order to give chance to peoples to pay last respect to him," the prince said.
