Opposition party leader Sam Rainsy was deported from Thailand Saturday while attempting to deliver a message to the Thai people alleging Prime Minister Hun Sen incited last week’s anti-Thai rampage in Phnom Penh, party officials said on Sunday.
Sam Rainsy was sent back to Singapore after being detained for more than one hour at Bangkok airport.
Thailand closed its borders to Cambodians after Wednesday’s riots destroyed the Thai Embassy and several Thai-owned businesses.
Although unable to enter Thailand, Sam Rainsy said he had succeeded in talking with an assistant of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
“I had a very frank discussion,” said Sam Rainsy, who was met on arrival at Bangkok airport by 20 policemen who said they were detaining him for his own safety.
“I feel sorry for what happened in Phnom Penh on January 29, 2003, and I apologize for the wrongdoings of some of my compatriots who indulged in violence,” Sam Rainsy said in a copy of the statement he had planned to deliver in Thailand.
“For partisan and personal interests, Prime Minister Hun Sen stirred up anti-Thai feeling in order to divert attention from increasingly serious internal problems he cannot solve,” Sam Rainsy said.
In the statement, Sam Rainsy also denied any involvement in the riots and challenged reports in the Thai media that claimed he was present near the Thai Embassy when it was razed by angry mobs of students.
Such claims were attempts to “scapegoat” the opposition party, he said.
“I deny having anything to do with the above-mentioned demonstrations and challenge any self-proclaimed eyewitnesses to bring concrete and precise evidence proving my presence.”
Arriving in Singapore later on Saturday, the opposition leader talked with media and again accused Hun Sen of “inciting people to hatred and violence” through comments Hun Sen made before the riots.
He returned to Phnom Penh on Sunday with the same message.
Increasing the pressure on Hun Sen to account for last week’s security disaster, Thailand’s Bangkok Post newspaper ran a front-page story on Saturday that cited a Thai military intelligence report that blamed Hun Sen for inciting anti-Thai sentiment.
However, the report also pointed the finger at opposition politicians who, the report claims, joined the protesters and whipped them into a frenzied, rioting mob.
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith on Sunday joined other Cambodian officials in adamantly denying allegations that the government was complicit in the riots.
“We have prepared for years [for the] Visit Cambodia year. It would be foolish…not a good image for Cambodia,” Khieu Kanharith said, referring to the Asean Tourism Forum, which was hosted in Phnom Penh in the days just before the riots.
Khieu Kanharith said the government has held a top-level meeting regarding the accusations, but would not divulge details.
Co-Defense Minister Tea Banh denied on Sunday reports in the Thai media that he had implicated Sam Rainsy in the riots.
“I never talked to any Thai newspapers. We don’t have any exact evidence so we cannot accuse him or anyone else,” Tea Banh said.
