Page "Ngo Dinh Nhu" Paragraph 19

In June 1958, the ARVN were involved in border clashes with Cambodia and made gains in the northeastern Cambodian province of Stung Treng.

This provoked a war of words between Diệm and Sihanouk.

On 31 August 1959, Nhu failed in an attempt to assassinate Sihanouk.

He ordered his agents to send parcel bombs to the Cambodian leader.

Two suitcases were delivered to the Sihanouk's palace, one addressed to the head of state, and the other to Prince Vakrivan, his head of protocol.

The deliveries were labeled as originating from an American engineer who had previously worked in Cambodia and purported to contain gifts from Hong Kong.

Sihanouk's package contained a bomb, but the other did not ; however, Vakrivan opened both on behalf of the monarch and was killed instantly, as was a servant.

The explosion happened adjacent to a room in the palace where Sihanouk's parents were present.

At the same time, anti-Sihanouk broadcasts emanated from a secret transmitter located somewhere in South Vietnam, widely attributed to Nhu.

Sihanouk quickly blamed the Ngôs and his aides made statements implying the United States might have played a role in the assassination attempt.