Prince Sihanouk, facing internal struggles of his own, due to the rise of the Khmer Rouge, did not want Cambodia to be involved in the conflict.

Cambodia's ruler Prince Sihanouk complained bitterly to us about these North Vietnamese bases in his country and invited us to attack them ( which we did from the air in 1969 – 70 ).

" Yet the experience did not prevent Khieu from advocating cooperation with Sihanouk in order to promote a united front against United States activities in South Vietnam.

Following Suramarit's death in 1960, Norodom Sihanouk again became head of state ( although he did not formally regain the title of king until after other periods in 1993 ).

In an effort to win greater popular approval, Sihanouk asked the French to release nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh from exile and to allow him to return to his country.

But in retrospect, Sihanouk allowing US bombing as a counter-weight to his previous decision to allow the Vietnamese to establish base areas seems consistent with his policy strategy in that US was the only force he could use as a counter-weight to the Vietnamese presence in Cambodia.

** King Norodom Sihanouk, the constitutional monarch of Cambodia, states that he believes his country ought to allow same-sex marriage.

Privately, however, Sirik Matak stated that under the circumstances it would be preferable to allow Sihanouk to return, due to his levels of popular support, stating " if the people wanted him, I would accept ".

Prince Sihanouk, fearing that the conflict between communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam might spill over to Cambodia, publicly opposed the idea of a bombing campaign by the United States along the Vietnam-Cambodia border and inside Cambodian territory.

However Prince Sihanouk wanted Cambodia to stay out of the North Vietnam-South Vietnam conflict and was very critical of the United States government and its allies ( the South Vietnamese government ).

Sihanouk wanted the United States and its allies ( South Vietnam ) to keep the war away from the Cambodian border.

This upset the United States greatly and contributed to there view that of Prince Sihanouk as a North Vietnamese sympathizer and a thorn on the United States. However, declassified documents indicate that, as late as March 1970, the Nixon administration was hoping to garner " friendly relations " with Sihanouk.

The prevalent " urban " line, endorsed by North Vietnam, recognized that Sihanouk, by virtue of his success in winning independence from the French, was a genuine national leader whose neutralism and deep distrust of the United States made him a valuable asset in Hanoi's struggle to " liberate " South Vietnam.

* 1969 – The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.

While Sihanouk – in an attempt to distance his country from the effects of the Second Indochina War – was pursuing a foreign policy of " extreme neutrality ", which involved association with China and toleration of North Vietnamese activity on the eastern borders, Nol remained friendly towards the United States, and indicated that he regretted the ending of US aid after 1963.

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

Sihanouk remained under insecure house arrest in Phnom Penh, until late in the war with Vietnam when he departed for the United States where he made Democratic Kampuchea's case before the Security Council.

Branded alternately a communist and an agent of the United States Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) by Sihanouk, he remained in exile until Lon Nol established the Khmer Republic in 1970.

The trip appeared to be a failure, but on his way home by way of the United States, Canada, and Japan, Sihanouk publicized Cambodia's plight in the media.

With this end in mind, Sihanouk turned to the United States in 1955 and negotiated a military aid agreement that secured funds and equipment for the Royal Khmer Armed Forces ( Forces Armées Royales Khmères — FARK ).

Sihanouk easily reciprocated this mistrust because several developments aroused his suspicion of United States intentions toward his country.

In late 1967 and in early 1968, Sihanouk signaled that he would raise no objection to hot pursuit of communist forces by South Vietnamese or by United States troops into Cambodian territory.

The prevalent " urban " line, endorsed by North Vietnam, recognized that Sihanouk, by virtue of his success in winning independence from the French, was a genuine national leader whose neutralism and deep distrust of the United States made him a valuable asset in Hanoi's struggle to " liberate " South Vietnam.

The Khmer Rouge, now realising that Sihanouk's status as a figurehead would help their cause internationally, asked Sihanouk to plead the case of Democratic Kampuchea at the United Nations.

The Cambodian Head of State, Prince Sihanouk, has similarly offered to help ... We invite the Government of the United States to present evidence or cause it to be presented ... Our purpose is to establish, without fear or favour, the full truth about this war.

A 1 riel coin about the size of a U. S. nickel was to be issued in 1970, as part of the United Nations ' Food and Agriculture Organization's coin program, but was not released, perhaps due to the overthrow of the government of Norodom Sihanouk by Lon Nol.

After more than ten years of painfully slow rebuilding with only meager outside help, the United Nations intervened resulting in the Paris Peace Accord on October 23, 1992 and created conditions for general elections in May 1993, leading to the formation of the current government and the restoration of Prince Sihanouk to power as King in 1993.

In order to increase their political clout and legitimacy, the KPNLF joined with the Khmer Rouge ( at this point in time officially called the Party of Democratic Kampuchea ) and Prince Sihanouk ’ s United National Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Co-operative Cambodia ( FUNCINPEC ) to form the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea ( CGDK ).

Formally declared on October 9, 1970, the Khmer Republic was a right-wing pro-United States military-led government headed by General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak that took power in the March 18, 1970 coup against Prince Norodom Sihanouk, then the country's head of state.

The communists continued to use King Norodom Sihanouk as a figurehead for the government until April 2, 1976 when Sihanouk resigned as head of state.

General Lon Nol had overhthrown Prince Norodom Sihanouk in March 1970 ; Sihanouk presented himself as a neutralist while aware of the PAVN use of his country.

They were restored for official use in 1993 with the reinstatement of the monarchy under HM Norodom Sihanouk.

The term " Khmer Rouge ", French for " Red Khmer ," was coined by Cambodian head of state Norodom Sihanouk and was later adopted by English speakers.

* 1991 – Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after thirteen years of exile.

* September 24 – The Cambodian monarchy is restored, with Norodom Sihanouk as king.

** Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh after 13 years of exile.

It was a derogatory term used by Norodom Sihanouk, dismissing the Cambodian leftists who had been organizing pro-independence agitations in alliance with the Vietnamese.

As a result of an agreement with the Cambodian government made in 1966, weapons for the Viet Cong were shipped to the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville and then trucked to Viet Cong bases near the border along the " Sihanouk Trail ", which replaced the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

After the overthrow of Prince Sihanouk in March 1970, the Viet Cong faced a hostile Cambodian government which authorized a U. S. offensive against its bases in April.

He became an associate of King Norodom Sihanouk, and by the late 1940s, when he set up a right-wing, monarchist, pro-independence political group, was becoming increasingly involved in the developing Cambodian political scene.

for this are as follows: Wilfred P. Deac, " Road to the Killing Fields: The Cambodian War of 1970-1975 " ( Texas A & M University Press, 1997 ) pp. 61 – 2 ; Robert Dallek, " Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power ," ( Harper Collins, 2007 ), p. 191 ; Steve Heder " Cambodian Communism and the Vietnamse Model, Volume I: Imitation and Independence, 1930-1975 ," ( White Lotus Press, 2004 ), p. 156.: It seems likely that Lon Nol initially intended to strengthen his position against the North Vietnamese with the ultimate aim of preventing their troops ( and those of the Viet Cong ) from operating within Cambodian borders, and wished to apply pressure on Sihanouk to achieve this.

Despite his actions in deposing Sihanouk, Nol was a firm believer in traditional Cambodian hierarchy: after Sihanouk had been removed he prostrated himself at the Queen Mother's feet in order to ask forgiveness.

The Khmer Republic was opposed within the Cambodian borders by the Front Uni National du Kampuchea or FUNK, a relatively broad alliance between Sihanouk, his supporters, and the Communist Party of Kampuchea.

Sihanouk himself claimed that the coup was the result of an alliance between his longstanding enemy, the exiled right-wing nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh, the politician Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak ( depicted by Sihanouk as a disgruntled rival claimant to the Cambodian throne ) and the CIA, who wished to install a more US-friendly regime.

Their place was taken by native Cambodian communist forces of the CPNLAF, which had been greatly increased when Sihanouk gave his support to the insurgency, rural Cambodians remaining overwhelmingly pro-Sihanouk.

Further, when the Cambodian left went underground in the late 1960s, Sihanouk had to make concessions to the right in the absence of any force that he could play off against them.

The party traces its roots to Norodom Sihanouk, the Cambodian independence leader, former King of Cambodia, Prime Minister and latterly Head of State during the period between 1955 and 1970, when his Sangkum regime controlled Cambodia.

After the communist victory in the Cambodian Civil War in 1975 and their establishment of Democratic Kampuchea, Sihanouk's supporters were sidelined and purged, while Sihanouk himself was placed under effective house arrest.