CAMBODIA: HUN SEN’S FORCES CONSOLIDATE THEIR GRIP ON PHNOM PENH

(7 Jul 1997) Natural Sound Cambodia’s Second Prime Minister, Hun Sen, appears to be in complete control of the country’s capital, following heavy fighting at the weekend. The coup has driven his political rival, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, to France - but Royalist forces are reported to control large areas in the west of Cambodia. Ranariddh says he’ll organise resistance from abroad and with the threat of civil war now looming, the crisis poses a severe problem for the ASEAN regional grouping. Member states were due to admit Cambodia to their ranks in 16 days time. By Monday Hun Sen’s forces were consolidating their grip on Phnom Penh. In the Tuol Kork district of the capital abandoned tanks lined the roads, with the bodies of dead Funcinpec soldiers lay in pools of blood. This bullet-riddled car is said to belong to General Nhek Bunchhay, the Army Chief of Staff who had been up at the Tang Kasang military base. It’