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Cambodia mourns victims of grenade attack
March 31, 1997
Web posted at: 11:57 a.m. EST (1657 GMT)PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN) -- As Cambodians Monday mourned the victims of Sunday's grenade attack, the leader of the protest that was disrupted by the attack blamed it on his political opponent.
Sam Rainsy, the bombing's apparent target, narrowly avoided injury because a bodyguard pushed him out of the way. He has blamed the attack on his bitter foe, co-premier Hun Sen. Sam Rainsy became Hun Sen's strongest critic after being fired as finance minister in 1994.
However, the country's Interior Ministry said it was unclear who was responsible. An investigation was under way into the attack outside the National Assembly in Phnom Penh that killed 16 and wounded more than 100. A witness said four grenades were thrown from a car that sped past the protest.
The attack, the worst political violence in Cambodia in years, has plunged the country's future as a democracy into uncertainty.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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