Glitter fights Cambodia eviction

Glitter was released from jail in the UK in 2000

Former glam rock star Gary Glitter is fighting to stay in Cambodia after being hounded out twice over his child pornography conviction, say reports.

Glitter has returned to the country and bought a house, said minister of women's affairs Mu Sochua who has campaigned to keep him out.

She said his with his "past record" he should not be allowed to stay.

She said she feared he may be allowed to remain there until a complaint is heard against his expulsion in 2002.

The shamed star was deported in December that year.

He had been held in jail for three nights over suspected sex offences, but has never been convicted of a crime in Cambodia.

Glitter had previously left the country voluntarily in May 2002, following a police investigation prompted by news of his child pornography conviction in the UK.

Living 'quietly'

He served two months of a four-month sentence in this country in 1999, after admitting 54 charges of possessing child pornography downloaded from the internet.

On his release from prison in January 2000 he was put on the sex offenders' register in the UK under his real name, Paul Gadd.

A senior Cambodian women's ministry official told a news agency he was aware Glitter was back but he had committed no crime.

He said the ministry would take action against him if they received orders from the government.

The authorities have been said to be worried Glitter's presence there draws attention to Cambodia's reputation as a sex tourism destination for paedophiles.

The former singer's previous visits caused a furore among women's and children's rights activists who called for him to be expelled.

Minister Mu Sochua said Glitter had purchased a house in Ta Khmao, a well-off suburb on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh.

She said she did not know how Glitter had managed to get back into the country.

"He has bought property and local authorities have confirmed to us that he has said he wants to stay in Cambodia quietly," she said.