Cambodian PM, opposition leader hold tense talks

Leaders of Cambodia's ruling and opposition parties found rare common ground today in a meeting held a day after political violence left a man dead, but remained deadlocked over an opposition demand for an independent probe of election irregularities.
In scattered clashes today, security forces used water cannons, smoke grenades and live ammunition, rights groups said, killing one person and wounding at least 10 over the course of the day. Thousands remained at the main protest site today, many having camped out overnight in defiance of orders from the government.
Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition chief Sam Rainsy, accompanied by their top aides, met for more than four hours at the National Assembly to try to end a political deadlock over the results of the July 28 election, in which Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won 68 assembly seats to the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party's 55.

The opposition has called for a boycott of parliament's first session on Sept. 23 unless an independent committee investigates its claims of voter registration fraud and other cheating.
It has vowed to maintain a protest until tomorrow evening at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh, after which the party will decide whether to continue, said Yim Sovann, the opposition party's spokesman.
The two sides issued a joint statement after today's meeting saying they agreed on three points to meet again for more talks, to ensure future protests were peaceful and to set up a committee for reforming the election process in the future.

"We have different views and different perceptions, but we are Cambodians we have the same blood, so we do not consider each other enemies," Yim Sovann told reporters after the meeting ended.

However, the ruling party rejected the main demand for an investigation into polling fraud, saying the results of the election were ratified on September 8 and the government has no legal means of carrying it out.
"The Cambodian ople's Party cannot walk backward and establish an independent committee (to investigate the results)," said Prak Sokhon, a ruling party spokesman. "The election body and the Constitutional Council have already made the decision."

The agreement to study election reform appeared to be a point on which the opposition might eventually claim a victory. When it was announced at the group's rally site, it was met with enthusiastic cheers.