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Article: Hun Sen Making an Impact; Cambodian Premier's Role Rivals Sihanouk's
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- June 22, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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To his opponents, Prime Minister Hun Sen is a "traitor" and a
"puppet," a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla who collaborated with the
Vietnamese troops who invaded and occupied Cambodia.
To his growing number of supporters inside Cambodia and abroad,
he is a patriot, committed to regaining his country's independence,
unifying the four warring factions and improving the living standards
of the rural peasantry.
Whichever view history bears out, Cambodia's 38-year-old Hun Sen
has emerged from the obscurity of his peasant-fighter background to
become one of the two central figures who will determine the fate of
Cambodia and its 8 million people.
The other is Prince Norodom Sihanouk, former ruler ...