Cambodia's Second Prime Minister Hun Sen lashed out Monday at the Asian trade organization that condemned his bloody government takeover, and he threatened to reconsider Cambodia's bid to join the seven-nation body. Hun Sen, who mixed with monks at a pagoda north of the capital Phnom Penh on Monday, also warned big powers not to use aid as a weapon to pressure him. Last week, the United States suspended aid to Cambodia for 30 days in response to Ranariddh's overthrow.
Overseas aid is said to account for about half of Cambodia's annual budget.
Hun Sen had already rejected an earlier offer to hold reconciliation talks. On Monday, Hun Sen stepped up his rhetoric against Ranariddh, calling him a terrorist and claiming that Ranariddh had received money from Taiwan to buy arms and train alleged terrorists in Cambodia. Taiwan immediately rejected the accusations. At the time of the coup earlier this month, Ranariddh was believed to be close to a peace accord with the last hard-liners from the disintegrating Khmer Rouge guerrilla army, which ruled Cambodia under its notorious leader Pol Pot in a reign of terror from 1975 to 1979. During Monday's statement, Hun Sen claimed to be in possession of two documents which allegedly implicated Ranariddh in a plot with the Khmer Rouge to increase the prince's military strength in and around Phnom Penh.