Cambodia to display Sihanouk's body for three months
File photo taken on February 27, 1992 shows chairman of the Cambodian Supreme National Council Prince Norodom Sihanouk (R) meeting with Khmer Rouge troops in the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin. (AFP photo)
PHNOM PENH - The body of revered former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk, who died in Beijing aged 89 on Monday, will go on display in Phnom Penh for three months before a lavish state funeral, an official said.
The body is set to arrive in the Cambodian capital on Wednesday afternoon and a mourning period will last until October 21, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP.
"(The) funeral will be three months later," he said, explaining that it would give Cambodians a chance to pay their respects to the beloved monarch, whose life encompassed turbulent years of rule, exile, conflict and tragedy, including the Khmer Rouge reign of terror.
The decision was made at a high-level meeting in Phnom Penh, hours after news broke that the royal had died early Monday at a Beijing hospital following a heart attack.
Cambodia's current King Norodom Sihamoni, who ascended the throne after his father Sihanouk abruptly abdicated in 2004, and Prime Minister Hun Sen have flown to Beijing to collect the body.
Khieu Kanharith said he believed around a hundred thousand people would line the streets of the capital on Wednesday to mark Sihanouk's final return to Phnom Penh after spending the last 10 months in China undergoing medical treatment.
Sihanouk's long-time assistant Prince Sisowath Thomico said he too expected a large outpouring of grief for the charismatic royal in Phnom Penh, where flags were already flying at half-mast on Monday.
"We can expect many people along the streets when the body returns," he told AFP.
He said plans to put the body on display were in line with Cambodian practice.
"It's according to the tradition of the Cambodian royal family," he told AFP, adding that the same procedure was followed when Sihanouk's father, then King Norodom Suramarit, passed away in 1960.
Cambodia to display Sihanouk's body for three months - Channel NewsAsia
Cambodians pray for ex-king at festival of dead
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1231477/1/.html
Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia's enigmatic former king
PHNOM PENH: Behind the image of an eccentric monarch who moved with the political tides, former king Norodom Sihanouk, who has died aged 89, never stopped trying to preserve the unity of war-ravaged Cambodia.
Twice exiled and twice returned to the throne during a life almost as tempestuous as his country's history, Sihanouk abruptly abdicated in 2004, as old age and poor health took their toll on the colourful monarch.
But it was far from the first time the royal's unpredictability caught observers off guard, after he repeatedly backed different regimes, including the murderous Khmer Rouge.
"Sihanouk is Cambodia," his official biographer, Julio Jeldres, once said of the former king.
He had been plagued by poor health in the final years of his life, including cancer and diabetes, and frequently spent long spells being treated in China, where he died early Monday.
A self-described "naughty boy" with a taste for life's pleasures and an artistic flair, Sihanouk embraced the intrigue that swirled around his kingdom with the gusto of a character from one of the dozens of films he made.
The playboy-monarch married six times and fathered 14 children. Aside from his cinematic creations, he also wrote poetry and composed songs.
But Sihanouk was far from frivolous, emerging as a shrewd survivor who caught friend and foe alike off guard with charm and political wit.
A boy of just 18 when placed on the throne in 1941 by French colonial authorities, Sihanouk quickly defied his patron's expectations for a pliant king.
Twelve years later, he gained Cambodia's independence and shortly after quit the throne in favour of his father Prince Norodom Suramarit to pursue a career in politics.
He served as premier half a dozen times, repeatedly leaving the post with a characteristic flash of angry theatre over perceived slights, until finally becoming "head of state" following the death of his father in 1960. In the decade that followed, he presided over a period of rare stability, helping to forge a modern nation.
His frequent public appearances -- Sihanouk seemed to relish working alongside rural villagers on various public works projects -- formed in the minds of his people an unbreakable bond between the man and the country he reigned over.
more>
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1231348/1/.html
A good king loved and respected by his people but unfortunately, because the war and the politic of the time, his benevolences didn't reach his people. Amen.