Phnom Penh (Cambodia), April 9 (AP): Cambodia's retired King Norodom Sihanouk arrived in Phnom Penh on Sunday after a seven-month stay in China for medical reasons.
He and his wife, former Queen Monineath, were received by their son King Norodom Sihamoni, as well as Cambodian leaders including Prime Minister Hun Sen and Senate President Chea Sim on their arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport.
Several foreign diplomats, Government Ministers and Sam Rainsy, Cambodia's main opposition leader, were also there to greet the 84-year-old former monarch, who spent the last seven months in Beijing for medical examinations.
He travels regularly for health checkups to China, which granted him exile after he was ousted from power in a 1970 coup. He has suffered from a number of ailments, including colon cancer, diabetes, hypertension and two strokes.
Sihanouk abdicated in October 2004, citing poor health. He was succeeded by Norodom Sihamoni, one of his two sons.
In November, he said he wanted his body cremated after he passes away, and his ashes should be put in a marble urn, blessed by Cambodian Buddhist monks, and placed in a stupa he built for his "most-loved daughter Kantha Bopha,'' who died at age 4 from leukemia in 1952.
He and his wife, former Queen Monineath, were received by their son King Norodom Sihamoni, as well as Cambodian leaders including Prime Minister Hun Sen and Senate President Chea Sim on their arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport.
Several foreign diplomats, Government Ministers and Sam Rainsy, Cambodia's main opposition leader, were also there to greet the 84-year-old former monarch, who spent the last seven months in Beijing for medical examinations.
He travels regularly for health checkups to China, which granted him exile after he was ousted from power in a 1970 coup. He has suffered from a number of ailments, including colon cancer, diabetes, hypertension and two strokes.
Sihanouk abdicated in October 2004, citing poor health. He was succeeded by Norodom Sihamoni, one of his two sons.
In November, he said he wanted his body cremated after he passes away, and his ashes should be put in a marble urn, blessed by Cambodian Buddhist monks, and placed in a stupa he built for his "most-loved daughter Kantha Bopha,'' who died at age 4 from leukemia in 1952.
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