Cambodian prince and politician Norodom Ranariddh dies at 77

By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Prince Norodom Ranariddh, former prime minister and the son of the late King Norodom Sihanouk, has died. He was 77. Cambodia’s information minister said on his Facebook page that Ranariddh died Sunday in France but did not give the cause. Ranariddh had been in ill-health since an auto accident in Cambodia in 2018. His career was always in the shade of his charismatic father and his clever and ruthless political rival, Hun Sen, with whom he shared power before being pushed aside. After Hun Sen staged a coup in 1997 with a lightning military takeover, Ranariddh’s party fell strongly under Hun Sen’s influence and Ranariddh became a marginal political player.