The Foreign Minister of the new Cambodian Government, Sarin Chhak was in Damascus on Wednesday (9 July) for his first official visit to the Syrian capital.
At an audience with the Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad, the Cambodian Foreign Minister handed him a message from the head of the Royal Government of National Union, Prince Norodom Sihanouk.
Mr Chhak also had talks with the Syrian Foreign Minister, Mr Abdel Halim Khaddam, and later issued a brief communique to newsmen.
In this, he said his was the first visit to Damascus by a representative of his government since the liberation of Cambodia. He wished to convey his country’s thanks to Syria for its support — and to express solidarity with the Syrian people in their fight for the liberation of their land, and the restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people.
Mr. Chhak is an experienced diplomat and one of the most prominent non-Marxist nationalists in the Government.
An ally of Prince Sihanouk, he is also an expert on Cambodia’s relations with its South-East Asian neighbors, and a committed neutralist in foreign policy.
