Phnom Penh - Cambodia's Prince Norodom Ranariddh returned home Sunday from a self-imposed exile three days after a royal pardon was granted by his half-brother, King Norodom Sihamoni.

Ranariddh was convicted last year of embezzling 3.6 million dollars from his former political party, the royalist Funcinpec, through a private sale of the party headquarters.

His Funcinpec won the country's first democratic elections after 30 years of civil war in 1993, but was forced into a coalition with Prime Minister Hun Sen and ultimately ousted in what the government calls "factional fighting" in 1997.

He fled to Malaysia to avoid an 18-month prison term on the embezzlement charges which he claims were politically motivated.

Phnom Penh - Cambodian human rights group Licadho released 1,700 white balloons outside a prison in the capital Tuesday to draw attention to the plight of two men it said were wrongly convicted of the 2004 murder of a union leader.

The number of balloons represented the total days that Sok Sam Oeun and Born Samnang have served in jail for the January 2004 murder of Chea Vichea, after being sentenced to 20 years in prison in August 2005.

They were convicted despite having apparently watertight alibis. The police officer in charge of their prosecution, Heng Pov, has subsequently been sacked and is now himself in jail on charges including corruption, murder, attempted murder and kidnap.

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's government strongly criticized former UN human rights special envoy Yash Ghai Monday with a letter to the editor published in a leading national newspaper.

Ghai resigned from the post a week ago. His relationship with the Cambodian government broke down amidst claims from Ghai that the government ignored him and from the government he was not neutral.

Phnom Penh - Cambodia said Wednesday that it was concerned about Thailand's ability to host the upcoming summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in December

Cambodia sympathized deeply with Thailand during its period of political turmoil and was suggesting a contingency plan for the scheduled summit of leaders of the 
10-member bloc, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith, said in an official clarification issued by the Information Ministry.

Phnom Penh - The United States advocated a bilateral solution to the ongoing border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Tuesday.

Wrapping up a three-day official visit during which he met Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and Prime Minister Hun Sen, Negroponte said the US hoped to see a peaceful end to the dispute between the two neighbours.