PM asks US President Joe Biden to consider converting debt owed by Lon Nol as development aid in Cambodia
Sen David / Khmer Times Sat, April 10, 2021
PHNOM PENH – Prime Minister Hun Sen asked the government of US President Joe Biden to consider debt incurred under the administration of General Lon Nol for buying bombs dropped on Cambodia to be turned into development aid in the Kingdom.
In a special message to the public today, Mr Hun Sen said he asked this three times of former US President Barack Obama but was rebuffed.
“I consider the US debt Cambodia owed during the rule of Lon Nol to be a ‘dirty’ debt that forced Cambodia to buy American bombs and drop them on the heads of Cambodians, causing many deaths and injuries. Remembering this story every time, I feel pain for all Cambodians,” he said.
The United States supported and lent money to the Lon Nol regime, which staged an illegal coup against King Norodom Sihanouk in 1970. Some documents show the loan was about $270 million but with interest has reached more than $600 million.
SOURCE – Khmer Times, Cambodia Sat, April 10, 2021
ASEAN Digest 
Recent Comments