The US Embassy in Phnom Penh issued a terse statement Thursday chastening opposition figure Sam Rainsy for implying that the US should fire missiles into Second Prime Minister Hun Sen’s military compound, Tuol Kasaing.
The statement, plus a reported phone call from US Ambassador Kenneth Quinn taking Sam Rainsy to task, prompted the party to issue its own statement regretting any “misunderstanding” about the inflammatory speech.
Sam Rainsy on Tuesday told a crowd of opposition protesters the US should send troops to arrest Hun Sen as they did former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. “Why doesn’t America dispatch its special planes equipped with laser-guided missiles to strike Tuol Kasaing?” he asked.
The US Embassy on Thursday made clear it had no intention of following Sam Rainsy’s suggestion.
“It has been brought to the attention of the embassy that in the course of the political dialogue over the past several days, a statement was made that mentioned the possibility of US missiles being fired into the home of the second prime minister,” the statement said.
“The US Embassy completely disassociates itself from this statement and such an action,” it said. “Ambassador Quinn has expressed his deep disappointment that such a statement would be made and categorically stated that it is not true.”
Quinn reportedly called Sam Rainsy Thursday, telling him to cool down his inflammatory speech. The party later issued its own, less-than-repentant statement, saying the statement had been taken out of context.
“[Sam Rainsy] was comparing the past actions of the second prime minister in sponsoring terrorist acts to the actions of other figures in the world who are listed and treated as terrorists,” the statement said. “We wish to make clear that the comments…were not intended as a serious appeal for air strikes on the residence of [Hun Sen] by any foreign power.”
