Malaysia has detained the deputy chief of Cambodia’s banned opposition party, Mu Sochua, after Phnom Penh accused her and other self-exiled opposition figures of seeking to return home to stage a coup against longtime leader Hun Sen.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad indicated on Thursday that Sochua would not be turned over to Cambodia but would instead be deported to an as-yet-undetermined third country.
The detention came as Sam Rainsy, the founder of the opposition party, prepared to fly from Paris to Bangkok, vowing to return to Cambodia on Saturday to lead demonstrations against the one-party rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
