(Interview)

Post: How do you see your party faring in the forthcoming elections?

Hun Sen: "I don't have the habit of selling the bear's skin before killing the

bear. But let's say we are confident. The confidence is the result of the three-week

electoral campaign ... We are quite confident that we will win."

Post: Do you feel you could get a majority of seats in the constituent assembly?

Hun Sen: "We need an absolute majority and we feel confident that we can master

this majority ... According to opinion polls we will get maybe 70 percent of the

vote ..."

Post: Prince Sihanouk has been the major proponent of a government of national reconciliation.

What role do you therefore envisage for the Prince if the CPP wins?

Hun Sen: "As far as we are concerned, we continue to regard Prince Sihanouk

as having a very important role before and after the elections. After the new government

has been set up, there will certainly be arrangements for a presidential election.

And I feel Prince Sihanouk should be elected president. CPP has no presidential candidate."

KR open bloody anti-poll campaign

A recent spate of attacks including the major April 3 assault and rampage through

Siem Reap, which have claimed the lives of one Colombian and one Japanese civilian

police [personnel] and left 16 other peacekeepers injured, has led a number of UN

and other sources to comment that the Khmer Rouge are successfully living up to their

promise to try and disrupt the elections.

The Japanese policeman was killed after his car, which was in a convoy of six vehicles

led by Dutch troops, was ambushed as they were traveling along the road to Phum Ampil

in Banteay Meanchey province, UN spokesman Eric Falt said.

Khmers go for a slice of the pizza action

Carpetbagger businessmen coming to Phnom Penh to make a quick buck should take note

of a couple of events that have taken place in the city recently.

First there was the case a few months ago of the King's restaurant. Here the owners

absconded owing staff wages. So in lieu of payment, the staff 'liberated' everything

from the premises. The latest incident took place at PP Pizza, opposite the Cambodia

Commercial Bank.

"My boss, Mr Graham [the owner of PP Pizza] did not pay me and after he owed

me money for two weeks, I just took the money from the till and walked out,"

pizza chef Sophal stated.

Sophal, in fact, was one of the lucky ones, some staff waited for much longer periods

to get paid. "When we asked for our money, Mr Graham and the manager said wait,

wait, wait every time," waiter Lay Neth complained.

Sick of the way they were being treated, they embarked on a much more subtle version

of what happened at King's. They didn't actually remove anything from the restaurant,

they just stole the idea. And then they went an opened up an exact replica of PP

in a building right next door.

Editor's note (2003): The staff called their new venture Happy Herb Pizza. It later

moved to the riverfront where it is still going strong, ten years on.

Christians pray for peace

About 300 Cambodian Christians gathered at the office of the Global Network aid

organization on May 1 to pray and fast for peace after the elections.

Pastor Chhon Phan Kong said it was time for the people of Cambodia to recognize the

"real God".

"For many years we have committed very bad sins, many people have committed

criminal acts, murders, killings, but if we confess, God will forgive our sins,"

he said.

Sok Eoun, 38, said: "I don't know which party is good or bad but I pray to God,

that through our votes, He will choose the right people to be our leaders."