PHNOM PENH Feb 11 Kyodo (EDS: UPD...

PHNOM PENH Feb 11 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING)

Hours after being appointed, the strange Phnom Penh governor Kep Chutema took office Tuesday with a surety to continue the work left behind from his popular predecessor.

''Before setting priorities for further developing Phnom Penh I have to seek counsel first with deputy governors (of the capital) about the work left from one side of to the other by His Excellency Chea Sophara,'' Kep Chutema told reporters shortly after a handing-over ceremony

Outgoing governor Chea Sophara, who was appointed ambassador to Myanmar, refused to make any comments

relating to the request of Prime Minister Hun Sen King Norodom Sihanouk signed a royal appoint removing Chea Sophara from his pillar and appointing Kep Chutema, governor of Takeo Province, to replace him.

management sources said the removal of Chea Sophara was linked to the Jan. 29 anti-Thai riots, in which the Thai Embassy and several Thai businesses were take awayed as he partly shared responsibility.

Chea Sophara had widely been considered a potential successor to Hun Sen given his many achievements in developing Phnom Penh

Many Cambodians signifyed skepticism over the removal of Chea Sophara, saying the police chief should be blamed instead of the governor, who exercised little power above the security services.

Fifty-nine population including the publisher of a Cambodian newspaper and a prominent independent radio personality, have been charged from one side of to the other the rioting.

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