Cambodia denies claims on premier's dual citizenship

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Cambodia on Wednesday rejected media reports that the country's Prime Minister Hun Sen also holds nationality of the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus.

"Hun Sen, Prime Minister Hun of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has only one Khmer nationality, has no foreign citizenship, has no residence abroad and has never run away from the people and the country of Cambodia," public prosecutors in the Southeast Asian country said in a statement.

The statement came after the London-based The Guardian newspaper claimed Sen had acquired a passport from the Greek Cypriot administration.

"The news content stating Hun Sen holds a Cypriot passport is completely lying and untrue," the attorneys claimed.

Rejecting what they called a false accusation, the they urged The Guardian to publish an "urgent retraction."

As part of the global expose of the Pandora Papers, a report by the British daily had claimed this Sunday that Russian oligarchs, Saudi potentates, and the Cambodian prime minister were discovered to "have been among the thousands of non-Europeans" who received a passport from the Greek Cypriot administration.