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PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday he would arrange a royal pardon for Prince Norodom Ranariddh, allowing him to end his self-imposed exile after being convicted of fraud.
Ranariddh had been sentenced in absentia to 18 months in jail after a court ruled he illegally sold his former political party's headquarters and used the proceeds from the sale to purchase another property in his own name.
Hun Sen said during a ceremony that King Norodom Sihamoni - Ranariddh's half-brother - would issue a royal pardon.
"My goal is that I want to unify the nation rather than having conflict with each other," Hun Sen said, adding he wanted Ranariddh at the opening of parliament next Wednesday.
The announcement came after Hun Sen's party was this month officially declared winner of the country's general election, extending his 23-year grip on power.
His Cambodian People's Party took 90 of the 123 seats up for grabs in the July ballot, while the main opposition Sam Rainsy Party received 26 seats.
The Human Rights Party won three seats, while the royalist parties - Funcinpec and Ranariddh's self-named Norodom Ranariddh Party - got two seats each.
The prince has remained overseas since being sentenced to jail in March for the 3.6-million-dollar real estate deal.
He also faced jail in 1998 but was spared by a royal pardon from his father, former king Norodom Sihanouk, after being sentenced to 35 years in prison for allegedly plotting a coup with the Khmer Rouge a year earlier while he was co-prime minister with Hun Sen.
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