FORMER king Norodom Sihanouk has been diagnosed with a third bout of cancer, according to a message posted on his website.

The 86-year-old, who left for his palace residence in Beijing in July to receive treatment for another illness, wrote last Thursday that his Chinese doctors had found a new cancer, which was "situated in a part of my body which will allow relatively simpler and easier treatment".  

Sihanouk has suffered from a number of ailments, including cancer, diabetes and hypertension. Earlier this month, he announced that his health was deteriorating and suggested that his final days were not far away.