Cambodian King father Sihanouk celebrates his 85th birthday

Oct 31, 2007, 8:57 GMT

Phnom Penh - It was a low-key celebration in Cambodia Wednesday for the 85th birthday of former king Norodom Sihanouk, who continues to defy his age and health setbacks and remains an icon and an enigma of history.

Sihanouk had repeated his pleas of previous years for people not to send gifts and flowers. Indeed, the focus of the week was on the anniversary of the rise to the throne of his son, King Norodom Sihamoni.

The man for whom the adjective mercurial is no cliche abdicated the throne for his son in October 2004 citing age and ill health.

But despite making many less public appearances as he gets older, Sihanouk, still revered as a living god by many Cambodians, is never far from the public eye or its thoughts.

Sihanouk's versatile career has included two periods as king, a long period as sovereign prince when he turned to politics and abdicated in favour of his father, Norodom Suramarit in 1955, just two years after Cambodia gained independence from France. Many credit him as the architect of independence.

His 1955-1970 Sankum Reastr Niyum regime, although authoritarian, is also remembered by many as a golden era in Cambodian architecture and the arts, and a time when the world's stars such as French beauty Catherine Deneuve flocked to the country.

A survivor of a US-backed coup by Lon Nol in 1970 which sent him into exile and, after his return, imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge inside his own palace until 1979 when he fled to China, Sihanouk has seen the best and worst of times of Cambodia.

Despite his age, in recent years he has been called the father of Cambodia's budding blogging scene for his outspoken website, and even critics admit Sihanouk has left an indelible mark on the country's history.

In recent years he has struggled with diabetes and beaten colon cancer twice, but upon his return to the country this year after months in China undergoing treatment the octogenarian royal was described as 'spritely as ever' by waiting dignitaries.

Sihanouk was expected to spend his birthday quietly with his family and donating gifts to the poor, according to a palace source.

Although often criticized over his handling of foreign policy in the years leading up to the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime which left up to 2 million Cambodians, including much of his own family, dead, Sihanouk has remained unbowed.

'Time will inevitably uncover dishonesty and lies; history has no place for them,' he was once quoted as saying.