Commemoration of the 16th anniversary of the deadly grenade attack in Phnom Penh on March 30, 1997.

March 30, 2013

Commemoration of the 16th anniversary of the deadly grenade attack in Phnom Penh on March 30, 1997.

This is what History remembers of the incident, according to the Keesing's Record of World Events, News Digest for March 1997:

"CAMBODIA - Grenade attack on opposition leader

On March 30 a demonstration outside the Cambodian National Assembly in Phnom Penh, led by Sam Rangsi, the outspoken leader of the opposition Khmer National Party (KNP), was subjected to a grenade attack. The Guardian newspaper [London] of March 31 reported that 16 people died and at least 150 were injured in the incident. Sam Rangsi escaped with minor injuries (...). Sam Rangsi claimed the attack was an attempt to assassinate him and had been ordered by Second Prime Minister Hun Sen, with the backing of senior figures in his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) (...). Hun Sen had called for the arrest of the organisers of the demonstration and had ordered police at Phnom Penh airport to detain anyone who had been involved in the rally."