Prince Norodom sirivudh became foreign minister of Cambodia in October 1993 in the coalition government formed in the wake of elections held under United Nations auspices. He resigned his office in October 1994 in protest at the dismissal of the finance minister, Sam Rainsy. He is the younger brother of King Norodom Sihanouk and the son of the late King Norodom Suramarit by a minor wife. Norodom Sirivudh was born on 8 June 1951 in Phnom Penh. His early education was in Cambodia, where he graduated in science. He went on to study economics in Paris from 1972 and was still in France when the Khmer Rouge seized power in April 1975. As a student, he became a member of the national united front which Norodom Sihanouk forged with the Khmer Rouge but sought political asylum after their victory. He joined FUNCINPEC (the French acronym for the National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia) on its formation in 1981 and assumed responsibility for its information services in France before becoming the representative of his nephew, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, with whom a relationship of trust and confidence has been tested by the tensions of coalition politics. He became secretary-general of FUNCINPEC in 1989 after transferring to its headquarters along the border with Thailand. In 1990 he assumed responsibility for FUNCINPEC's foreign relations and was closely involved in the negotiations in Jakarta and the International Conference on Cambodia in Paris which led to a political settlement for Cambodia in October 1991. He led FUNCINPEC's mission to Phnom Penh in advance of the return of Norodom Sihanouk in November 1991 and served as foreign minister in the provisional coalition set up in July 1993 before the formal coalition arrangement in which he assumed the same office in October.