Phnom Penh: Minister of Interior, Sar Kheng, is back in Cambodia. He’d been in France for the past two weeks, undergoing an undisclosed surgical procedure.

When the trip was announced last month, some critics spread rumours that the Minister would be meeting with members of the opposition in France. Exiled former opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, went as far as to suggest that the talks would focus on the formation of an interim government for the kingdom, but this claim was widely ridiculed. Kheng’s son, Sor Sokha, who is a Secretary of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport responded to the allegations saying, “False statements made by the likes of Rainsy are fabrications to mislead national and international opinion for the benefit of their political interests and those of their allies”.

Interior Ministry spokesperson, General Khieu Sopheak, has also rejected speculation about the Minister’s trip to France, saying an investigation was underway into just who had spread false information about the Minister’s business outside Cambodia.