Sihanouk off to Beijing

King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia has arrived in China for a medical checkup.

The king, who is seventy-eight and travels regularly to Beijing for health treatment, said he'd return by early April, unless he faces serious medical problems.

King Sihanouk left Cambodia without signing into law the long-delayed bill providing for the trial of former Khmer Rouge guerrilla leaders for genocide.

But the King's son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, said it could be signed by the acting head of state, Chea Sim, in King Sihanouk's absence. Correspondents say the further delay in setting up joint tribunals, with international participation, to try the Khmer Rouge leaders, has led to concern that no-one will ever face trial over the deaths of an estimated one-point-seven million Cambodians while the Khmer Rouge were in power in the 1970s.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service