Strongman Objects to U.N. Seat Vacancy

De factor leader Hun Sen threatened to suspend cooperation with the United Nations because the organization left his country’s seat vacant at the upcoming General Assembly session. Hun Sen, who ousted his co-prime minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, in a July coup, said the letter presenting his government’s credentials for the U.N. seat was signed by King Norodom Sihanouk and that the U.N. move to postpone deciding who should fill the seat amounted to “a violation against the Cambodian government.� Hun Sen said U.N. representatives in Cambodia would not be able to work until the issue is resolved.