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Independence
Negotiator Honored With Stupa
King
Norodom Sihanouk on Saturday inaugurated a memorial stupa to a
trusted ally and a key negotiator for independence.
Penn
Nouth, who died in Paris in 1985 at the age of 80, served in various
government ministries before being promoted to Minister of the Royal
Palace when the King ascended the throne in
dente in 1941. He went on to be the King's top
negotiator in talks with France that resulted in Cambodia's
independence in 1953.
When
the King was over thrown by Lon Nol in 1970, Penn Nouth joined him
to lead a coalition front dominated by the Khmer Rouge.
Addressing
about 300 guests at the unveiling, King Sihanouk said he managed to
secure Penn Nouth's release from the country in 1979, when the
Vietnamese ousted the Khmer
Rouge from power.
When
ordered to leave Phnom Penh ahead of the Vietnamese invasion, the
King convinced Pol Pot to let Penn Nouth go with him. The King, who
spent much of 1975 to 1979 under house arrest at the Royal Palace,
said Penn Nouth was a "common laborer" during
the period.
The
stupa, opposite the Buddhist Institute, is the first to be erected
in a public place for some one who was neither a monk nor a member
of the royal family, Phnom Penh
Governor
Chea Sophara said.
(Additional
report by Saing soenthrith) |
