A prominent Cambodian labor leader affiliated with the country's main opposition party was fatally shot yesterday on a street in Phnom Penh, the latest in a series of suspected political killings.
Chea Vichea, president of the Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers, was shot at close range while reading at a roadside newsstand, said the owner of the newsstand, Va Sothy.
"There were two assailants," Va Sothy said. "One was waiting on a motorcycle and the other walked toward him and shot him two or three times from about half a meter away."
Ung Bun Ang, spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, said the killing was probably linked to politics. He said the slain man was not a party member but had a close relationship with party president Sam Rainsy.
"Chea Vichea was a very strong advocate of workers' rights and human rights," Sam Rainsy said. "He had denounced corruption and human rights violations in this country. So apparently he was a target of the current regime."
The opposition party is locked in a struggle with the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose own Cambodian People's Party won last year's general election but failed to get the two-thirds majority required to govern alone.
The runner-up Sam Rainsy and FUNCINPEC parties have refused to join a coalition government and called for Hun Sen to step down.
Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith condemned the killing, but dismissed speculation that it was politically motivated.
"Amid the currently tense situation, this [killing] could be the result of past disputes with other workers or garment factories. This is not political because he was not a political figure of any importance," he said.
At least three members of the Sam Rainsy Party have been killed in recent weeks. The culprits have not been apprehended.
Va Sothy said the gunman did not say anything to the 39-year-old labor leader, who was reading a newspaper, before shooting him and fleeing on the motorcycle.
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