Prime minister’s right-hand man succumbs to illness at the age of 66

Deputy PM Sok An dies

LARGE gusts of wind tossed dust, leaves and petals into the sky yesterday on Rue Yougoslavie as grave-faced senior officials trickled into the home of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who passed away after a long illness at the age of 66 in a Beijing hospital.

In the hours before the announced time of death – 6:32pm – ceremonial preparations were already underway at the longtime senior leader’s home. A Council of Ministers letter circulated shortly there- after revealed the government had granted $750,000 from the national budget for a funeral on the orders of Sok An’s close ally, Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Sok An, who was given the prestigious title “Samdech Vibol Panha”, meaning “Lord of Greatest Wisdom” just days before his death, had long been considered Hun right-hand man.

Born in Takeo on April 16, 1950, a young Sok An delved deeply into the world of education, becoming a teacher and later a principal at a school.

Though the specifics of his time during the Khmer Rouge era remain cloudy, according Sen’s to Council of Ministers spokeman Phay Siphan Sok An stayed in Cambodia and survived the brutal regime, which slaughtered intellectuals as part of its cultural upheaval.

In the early 1980s, he worked closely with Hun Sen at the CONTINUED

– PAGE 4