Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday welcomed Japanese Premier Keizo Obuchi to Phnom Penh, and indicated he may be willing to modify the government’s latest plan to try former Khmer Rouge leaders.
In a cryptic comment shortly after Obuchi’s arrival, Hun Sen said he had a “gift” in terms of an agreement to offer Obuchi, but didn’t elaborate on whether that agreement was the current plan or one with UN support.
But Hun Sen added to reporters: “We will talk over what has not been agreed already, if he [Obuchi] raises the issue.”
Adding credence that a compromise may be in the works, Cabinet Minister Sok An told The Associated Press that the government will be offering “some new points” over the next five days.
Obuchi, the first Japanese prime minister to visit Cambodia in 43 years, is in town as part of a six-day tour of Cambodia, Laos and Thailand to boost bilateral ties and seek views on July’s Group of Eight summit, which will be hosted in Okinawa.
Accompanied by his wife and nearly 80 Japanese government delegates, Obuchi stepped off a chartered plane Monday afternoon at Pochentong Airport onto a red carpet and into a crowd of fjadskj
