Khieu Kanharith ( km, ខៀវ កញ្ញារីទ្ធ; born 13 September 1951) is a Cambodian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and the current

Minister of Information An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given to ...

. Kanharith was born in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

to Khieu Than, who was a customs official and his wife Lor Lienghorn. In 1969 he completed his baccalauréat studies and was studying diplomacy and law when the country fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975. In the early days of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, he began to work for the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea, first as second assistant secretary-general to the Central Committee. He also taught at the Front's political training school. Kanharith began working for ''Kampuchea'', the first Cambodian newspaper after the Pol Pot period and one of the most important newspapers throughout the 1980s,Marston, John (2011) "Im Sokha and Cambodian Satirical Cartoons." ''International Journal of Comic Art Vol. 13 (1): pp. 32-58.''Translating a Novel, Minister Turns a New Page
by Ethan Plaut, January 13, 2006, at the Cambodia Daily By August 1982 he was editor-in-chief. He was first elected to the

National Assembly of Cambodia The National Assembly ( km, រដ្ឋសភា, ) is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Cambodia. It is referred to as the lower house, with the Senate being referred to as the upper house. The National Assembly is an elec ...

in 1981. In 1989 he was named to the National Council of the Solidarity Front for Development and Defense of Kampuchea. He was jailed briefly in 1990 for suspicion of dissident activities. Despite this, in 1991, Prime Minister

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and o ...

asked him to serve as an advisor on the Council of Ministers. He also served on the Secretariat of the Supreme National Council, the body representing the four Cambodian factions which had signed the Paris Peace Agreements. During the period of the

United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) ar, سلطة الأمم المتحدة الانتقالية في كمبوديا, italics=off zh, , italics=offfrench: Autorité provisoire des Nations unies au Cambodgerussian: Орг ...

(UNTAC), he became an official spokesman for the State of Cambodia. Following UNTAC, in May 1993, he was elected to the Constituent Council. He was made Minister of Information the same year. From 1994 to 2004 he held the lower rank of Secretary of State of the Ministry of Information, but it was widely recognized that he continued to be the most powerful figure in the ministry. He was once again elected to the National Assembly in 1998. He regained the title of Minister of Information in 2004. He was conferred an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Information and Communications from The

University of Cambodia The University of Cambodia (often referred to as UC for short; km, សាកលវិទ្យាល័យកម្ពុជា, ''Sakâlvĭtyéalai Kămpŭchéa'') is a private university located on Northbridge Road in Sen Sok District, Phnom Pe ...

in 2011. He is also an author and translator, and has produced an unauthorized

Khmer language Khmer (; , ) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language spoken by the Khmer people, and the Official language, official and national language of Cambodia. Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pāli, Pali, especiall ...

version of the

James Clavell James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was an Australian-born British (later naturalized American) writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best ...

novel ''

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'', which he has had printed with his own money. He also translated Ben Kiernan's ''How Pol Pot Came to Power'' into Khmer.

References

External links

H.E. Mr Khieu Kanharith
Ministry of Information Cambodia, retrieved 21 June 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Khieu, Kanharith 1951 births Cambodian People's Party politicians Government ministers of Cambodia Cambodian writers Living people Translators to Khmer Members of the National Assembly (Cambodia) Royal University of Law and Economics alumni