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PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's ailing former king Norodom Sihanouk returned home on Wednesday from Beijing where he spent nine months receiving medical treatment, officials said.
Sihanouk and his wife were given a red-carpet welcome by family members, Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior government officials upon arrival at Phnom Penh airport.
A smiling Sihanouk, 88, pressed his hands together and kissed them in a traditional greeting to well-wishers before getting into a car that whisked him off to the royal palace.
One of Asia's longest-serving monarchs, the revered king abruptly quit the throne in October 2004 in favour of his son, citing old age and health problems.
Prince Sisowath Chivan Monirak, deputy president of the Cambodian senate, told reporters Sihanouk had kept his promise "to come back for Khmer New Year" and that the ex-monarch's doctors "had no problem" with his return to Cambodia.
The new year festivities, which start on April 14 and last for three days, are a popular time for families to get together.
Sihanouk has suffered from a number of ailments, including cancer, diabetes and hypertension.
He has received the bulk of his treatment in China and several Chinese doctors have accompanied him back to Phnom Penh, according to Sisowath Chivan Monirak.
The prince said he did not know how long Sihanouk planned to stay in the country this time.
"For the Cambodian people, the longer he stays, the better," he said.
Despite abdicating, Sihanouk remains a prominent figure in Cambodia and regularly uses his website to comment on matters of state.
Sihanouk said in 2009 that he had lived too long and wished to die as soon as possible, according to a personal handwritten note on his website. "Lengthy longevity bears on me like an unbearable weight," he said.
- AFP/de
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