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Grenade explodes outside Funcinpec party headquarters
Phnom Penh, July 27: A grenade blew up on a sidewalk outside the Royalist Funcinpec party headquarters and two unexploded grenades were found near the royal palace during general elections today, police said. No one was hurt.
Phnom Penh, July 27: A grenade blew up on a
sidewalk outside the Royalist Funcinpec party headquarters and
two unexploded grenades were found near the royal palace
during general elections today, police said. No one was hurt.
The incidents happened a few hours after Cambodians
began voting in parliamentary elections to choose a new
national assembly.
No one immediately claimed responsibility. Two leading
parties said the grenades were an attempt to sabotage the
polls.
The explosion, which left burn marks on the sidewalk,
sent people running for cover.
The grenade had been booby trapped with its pin
removed and the detonator held in place by a rubber band. It
was dipped in a can of kerosene and left at the sidewalk near
a trash barrel, said Phnom Penh deputy police commissioner
Muong Khim.
The grenade exploded when the kerosene disintegrated the rubber band, he told the associated press. The headquarters of the Funcinpec party is across the street from where the blast occurred but there were no casualties, Muong Khim said.
Funcinpec is one of the three leading parties in the elections.
"I regret this kind of incident ... There were no injuries but it is still intimidation," said prince Norodom Sirivudh, the secretary-general of the party.
"We have a lot of tension and pressure through this kind of scenario. Once again we will go to the end of the process and hope the democratic ways will win," he said.
Bureau Report.
Two similarly boob-trapped grenades were also discovered outside the royal palace and removed safely, said Heng Pov, another deputy police commissioner. They were hidden by a tree about 1 meter (yard) from each other, he said.
``This is sabotage to frighten the voters,'' said Ung Bun Ang, a spokesman of the opposition Sam Rainsy party.
At least 16 people were killed during the month long campaign for the elections, but the number was low compared to violence during Cambodia's two previous elections in the past decade. The capital had not witnessed any violence during the current campaign until Sunday's explosion.
The grenade exploded when the kerosene disintegrated the rubber band, he told the associated press. The headquarters of the Funcinpec party is across the street from where the blast occurred but there were no casualties, Muong Khim said.
Funcinpec is one of the three leading parties in the elections.
"I regret this kind of incident ... There were no injuries but it is still intimidation," said prince Norodom Sirivudh, the secretary-general of the party.
"We have a lot of tension and pressure through this kind of scenario. Once again we will go to the end of the process and hope the democratic ways will win," he said.
Bureau Report.
Two similarly boob-trapped grenades were also discovered outside the royal palace and removed safely, said Heng Pov, another deputy police commissioner. They were hidden by a tree about 1 meter (yard) from each other, he said.
``This is sabotage to frighten the voters,'' said Ung Bun Ang, a spokesman of the opposition Sam Rainsy party.
At least 16 people were killed during the month long campaign for the elections, but the number was low compared to violence during Cambodia's two previous elections in the past decade. The capital had not witnessed any violence during the current campaign until Sunday's explosion.