Funcinpec sources said this week that security concerns remain a factor in former Funcinpec general Nhiek Bun Chhay’s decision to delay his return.
Serey Kosal, an adviser to Prince Norodom Ranariddh, said Monday that Nhiek Bun Chhay’s concerns keeping him out of the country right now are twofold.
In part, the former three-star general wants to receive parliamentary immunity from arrest before he returns to Phnom Penh for the first time since he fled on July 6, 1997.
And he wants to wait until the CPP-led government integrates his troops who were loyal to him following July 1997’s factional fighting in Phnom Penh.
Other Funcinpec officials said Nhiek Bun Chhay wants to wait until he has a job to return to. But they also said it is likely he is wary about his safety.
“As usual, people who have had problems must have some worries about their security,” said General Khann Savoeun, Fun-cinpec’s top armed forces official.
Nhiek Bun Chhay has said he would not return to Phnom Penh until he is appointed to the yet-to-be-formed upper house of parliament, the Senate.
Nhiek Bun Chhay led troops loyal to Funcinpec in clashes against troops loyal to then-second prime minister Hun Sen, resulting in the collapse of the coalition government and the ousting of then-first prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh.
He was pardoned in Novem-ber as part of the new coalition deal after being convicted seven months earlier in absentia in Phnom Penh Military Court for attempting to overthrow the government and illegally importing weapons.
“His enemies should understand … that Nhiek Bun Chhay is not the same man like before, not powerful at all,” said Dien Del, a retired general who sits in parliament.
(With reporting by Marc Levy, Lor Chandara and Phann Ana)
