Cambodia coup plotters get life

At least seven people died in the gun battle

A Cambodian court has sentenced three US citizens to life imprisonment for their involvement in a failed coup attempt last year.

The court also sentenced 27 Cambodians to jail sentences ranging from life to three years in connection with the same incident.

Eight people were killed when the group of armed rebels known as the Cambodian Freedom Fighters attacked government buildings in Phnom Penh last November.

The three Cambodian-Americans - two of whom were tried in absentia - have admitted to being leaders of the group. But they plan to appeal against the sentences.

The group's leader, who is based in California, has said he will continue to campaign for the overthrow of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Leader in exile

Little was known about the so-called Cambodian Freedom Fighters before they launched their abortive raid on the Defence Ministry last year.

The gun battle lasted one hour

Their leader, Chhun Yasith, is a 44-year-old accountant in Long Beach, California, whose family fled to the US in 1982.

He is one of hundreds of exiles from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos who continue to campaign from the US against communism in their countries of origin.

Mr Yasith said he had hoped his group's attack on the Cambodian capital would start a popular uprising against the government of Hun Sen.

But it got little popular support and was easily suppressed by the Cambodian army, which appeared to have advance knowledge of the raid.

US recognition

The authorities in Cambodia say they want the two who were tried in absentia to be extradited from the US.

Back in the 1980s, the US supported anti-communist groups operating in Indo-China, but today it recognises Hun Sen's administration.

Phnom Penh has been pressing Washington to control the activities of groups like the Cambodian Freedom Fighters.

The FBI has been investigating the group, but has yet to release its findings.