PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has revealed the history behind the four photos that he posted this morning on his Facebook page, asking for help in identifying the source. The Prime Minister confirmed that the four pictures were taken at two different meetings, but both during the process of establishing peace for Cambodia.
On Friday evening, 26 August, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that the four photos were taken at the INDONESIA-CAMBODIAN WAR-PEACE TALKS in 1990 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Two photos were taken on 26 February 1990 by Kraipit Phanvut, and two photos were taken on 8 September 1990 by Francis Silvan.
The Prime Minister recalled the history of the two meetings and wrote, "The meeting in February 1990 came after the opening of the Paris Conference was not a success. The meeting was attended by the Co-Chairs of the Paris, France and Indonesia Conference, as well as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evan, six ASEAN countries and three countries from Indochina. This meeting was called the Informal Meeting of Cambodia (IMC). It is a memorable meeting where we discussed until 2:30 am and I held a press conference at 3 am."
He further added, "Another meeting was held in September 1990 in Jakarta, Indonesia, but this meeting, apart from the Cambodian side, was attended only by Ali Alataz, the Indonesian Foreign Minister. The main result was to prepare a list of members of the Supreme National Council (SNC) according to a 6 + 6 or 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 formula, after the signing of the establishment in Tokyo, Japan. Afterwards, the SMC composition came to a meeting at the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand in September 1990."
The Prime Minister said he was only 38 years old, five years into his position as Prime Minister, when those pictures were taken.
Prime Minister Hun Sen was one of the four parties that took part in negotiating peace for Cambodia in 1991. Despite these peace talks, the country did not see complete peace until the launch of the win-win policy in 1998, which helped end the Khmer Rouge movement and has kept Cambodia peaceful until the present day. Win-win politics re-established Cambodia as a peaceful, united nation, following more than 500 years of tumultuous history.
