Retired Cambodian king to return home

Retired King Norodom Sihanouk will return home this week following a 10-month absence for medical checkups and extended visits in China and North Korea, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday.

Photo: Retired Cambodian king to return home

Hun Sen said the 83-year-old former monarch and his wife, former Queen Monineath, will arrive in Cambodia on Friday.

"We are delighted with the impending return of their majesties after they spent a (long) period of time undergoing medical checkups" in China, Hun Sen told reporters Tuesday.

In a statement posted on his official Web site last week, the former king said his return will be "strictly private" and that he does not want a lavish reception ceremony and press coverage for his arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport as has been the custom.

Sihanouk has suffered from a number of ailments in recent decades, including colon cancer, diabetes, hypertension and two strokes. He travels regularly for medical checkups in China, which granted him a comfortable exile after he was ousted from power in a coup in 1970.

He and his wife went to China last August for routine medical checkups. In February, the royal couple traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea, and stayed there for several months before returning to Beijing in early May.

Sihanouk was a close friend of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, father of current leader Kim Jong Il.

He abdicated the throne in October 2004 and was succeeded by his son, current King Norodom Sihamoni, reports the AP.

I.L.