RCAF General Pol Sinuon who threatened to shoot a reporter for addressing him by

his informal name, has claimed the threat was only a joke, local media reported.

Chim Chenda, a reporter for Kampuchea Thmey, angered General Sinuon after

greeting him as "Brother Nuon" in a Battambang restaurant. The general demanded

Chim "get on his knees and apologize," or he would kill him, according to the

Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ). Chim filed a

suit against the general in the Battambang provincial court. CAPJ refused to

accept Sinuon's claim that he was joking, while the Southeast Asian Press

Alliance and the International Federation of Journalists are joining CAPJ in

demanding a full investigation into the situation.