Cambodia's King Sihanouk abdicates
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Suffering from poor health, Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk has announced his abdication.
The announcement was made in a letter read to the National Assembly on Thursday by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the king's son and chairman of the assembly.
The news "was shocking and very regretful," the Associated Press reported the prince as saying.
But supporters, including Ranariddh and Prime Minister Hun Sen quickly asked Sihanouk, 81, to reconsider, requesting an audience with the king.
If Sihanouk rebuffs their efforts, a panel will select the next king, which is not done by direct heredity, although candidates must follow a royal bloodline.
Sihanouk has been receiving medical treatment in Beijing for several months.
The king has been an influential figure in Cambodian politics for more than half a century, leading the country to independence from French colonialism in the 1950s.
He left Cambodia after trying and failing to end the feuding among the country's political parties that followed inconclusive elections in July last year. In frustration over the squabbling, he threatened several times to abdicate.
"I ask all compatriots to please allow me to retire," the king's letter said, according a television report.
The king's statement asked the country to form a nine-member throne council -- as set in Cambodian law -- to consider the next monarch. The council would include leaders such as Hun Sen.
Ranariddh and Hun Sen issued a joint statement Thursday proposing another of the king's sons, Norodom Sihamoni, to be the new monarch.
Sihamoni is Ranariddh's half-brother and is the country's representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
-- CNN Producer Narunart Prapanya contributed to this report
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
