Congratulating US President George W Bush on the toppling of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the Khmer Front Party—the political wing of the Democratic Front of Khmer Students and Intellectuals—called on the US to “free” Cambodia next.
The Khmer Front Party also said on Friday the situation in Cambodia was not too different from Hussein’s Iraq.
“I would like to express our sincere and warmest congratulations to the American people and your excellency, the President of the United States of America,” KFP President Suth Dina said in letter sent to the US Embassy.
“[We] strongly hope that the United States will have in its policy to free long-oppressed Cambodians,” said Suth Dina, adding that Cambodia needed to be free “from the iron fist of dictatorship.”
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy wrote from Washington on Friday declaring the liberation of Iraq a step closer to the liberation of Cambodia.
“Hussein and Hun Sen have similar names and reputations. I am sure they will have similar fates,” Sam Rainsy wrote.
Government officials were angered in September when US Senator Mitch McConnell called for “regime change” in Cambodia and Burma. Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng at the time pointed out that Cambodia has had several democratic elections in recent years.
