Cambodia King Feeling Better After Paralysis

Hospitalized in Beijing after suffering a brief paralysis of his left side, King Norodom Sihanouk reported feeling “much better” and praised Chinese doctors for saving his life.

Sihanouk’s French physician, Georges Pathe, said in a statement issued after reviewing diagnoses by Chinese doctors that the Cambodian monarch apparently had not suffered a stroke. He said Sihanouk’s prognosis was “extremely favorable.”

Sihanouk, 73, first reported the paralysis Friday, hours after his office announced that the king would ignore a warning from Khmer Rouge guerrillas that enemies in the government planned to assassinate him if he returned home from China.

The reports plunged Phnom Penh into a new bout of political uncertainty following a monthlong war of nerves between Sihanouk’s son, First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh, and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The coalition government they lead has appeared on the verge of collapse. Ranariddh has demanded that their power-sharing deal better reflect his party’s top showing in the U.N.-sponsored elections in 1993. Hun Sen, who retains control over most of the military apparatus, has accused the royal family of plotting against him and threatened to call out the army if his role is menaced.