Editing Norodom Ranariddh (section)

===Conflict escalation and military clashes===
{{Main|1997 clashes in Cambodia}}

In August 1996, Khmer Rouge leaders [[Pol Pot]] and [[Ieng Sary]] publicly split, with the former denouncing the latter in a radio broadcast. Ieng Sary responded by disassociating himself from the Khmer Rouge and went on to form his own political party, the [[Democratic National Union Movement]].<ref name="Summers236">Summers (2003), p. 236</ref> This prompted Ranariddh and Hun Sen to briefly set their political differences aside to jointly seek a royal pardon for Ieng Sary,<ref name="Peou294">Peou (2000), p. 294</ref> who had been sentenced to death by the [[People's Republic of Kampuchea]] (PRK) government in 1979.<ref name="Summers236"/> Subsequently, in October and December 1996, both Ranariddh and Hun Sen competed to win Ieng Sary's favour by separately visiting the leader at his fiefdom in [[Pailin]]. Hun Sen gained the upper hand, when he convinced Khmer Rouge soldiers under Ieng Sary's charge to join the CPP.<ref name="Peou294"/> Ranariddh canceled a follow-up visit to [[Samlout District|Samlout]], another town located within Ieng Sary's fiefdom, when Sary's soldiers threatened to shoot down Ranariddh's helicopter if he went there.<ref>Peou (2000), p. 295</ref>

In September 1996 Ariston Berhad signed three agreements with CPP's minister [[Sok An]], without Ranariddh's knowledge or that of other FUNCINPEC ministers. The agreements provided for the leasing of land to Ariston to develop a golf course, holiday resort and an airport in Sihanoukville. These actions angered Ranariddh, who in a February 1997 letter to Ariston's president Chen Lip Keong, declared the agreements null and void. Subsequently, Ariston claimed that they had tried unsuccessfully to contact FUNCINPEC officials, with a view to getting them to jointly sign the agreements.<ref>{{cite web |author=Katya Robinson |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ariston-rides-rough-and-tumble-business |title=Ariston rides the rough-and-tumble of business |date=21 March 1997 |access-date=6 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924102351/http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ariston-rides-rough-and-tumble-business |archive-date=24 September 2015 |work=Phnom Penh Post |url-status=dead }}</ref> Hun Sen was offended by Ranariddh's actions, and in April 1997 wrote to Mahathir assuring him of the validity of the agreements.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=19970403&id=U6djAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PBUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4769,5624606|title=Assurance from Hun Sen|date=3 April 1997|page=2|access-date=6 February 2015|work=New Straits Times}}</ref>

Ranariddh forged a political coalition by bringing FUNCINPEC to work together with the KNP, the [[Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party]] and the Khmer Neutral Party. On 27 January 1997, the four political parties formalised their alliance, which became known as the "National United Front" (NUF).<ref>Peou (2000), p. 293</ref> Ranariddh was nominated as the president of the NUF, and stated his intent to lead the alliance against the CPP, in the general elections scheduled to be held in 1998.<ref>Widyono (2008), p. 239</ref> The CPP issued a statement condemning NUF's formation, and formed a rival coalition consisting of political parties ideologically aligned to the former [[Khmer Republic]].<ref name="Widyono240">Widyono (2008), p. 240</ref>

Meanwhile, Ranariddh stepped up his attacks against Hun Sen, accusing him of harbouring plans to restore a Communist regime should the CPP win the next general election. At the same time Ranariddh attempted to persuade moderate leaders of the Khmer Rouge, including [[Khieu Samphan]] and Tep Kunnal, to join the NUF.<ref name="Summers236"/> Khieu Samphan accepted Ranariddh's overtures, and on 21 May 1997, put the support of his party, the [[Khmer National Solidarity Party]] (KNSP), behind the NUF.<ref name="Widyono240"/> On 4 June 1997, Ranariddh and Samphan signed a communiqué pledging mutual support.<ref>Widyono (2008), p. 253</ref>

Five days later, customs officials at Sihanoukville discovered a three-ton shipment of rocket launchers, assault rifles and handguns, labelled "spare parts" and consigned to Ranariddh. The rocket launchers were seized by [[Royal Cambodian Air Force|Cambodian Air Force]] officers aligned to the CPP, while [[Royal Cambodian Armed Forces]] (RCAF) officials aligned to FUNCINPEC were allowed to keep the light weapons.<ref>Widyono (2008), pp. 244–45</ref> In mid-June, Khmer Rouge radio, controlled by Khieu Samphan, broadcast a speech praising the KNSP-NUF alliance and calling for an armed struggle against Hun Sen. Fighting subsequently broke out between Ranariddh's and Hun Sen's bodyguards.<ref name="Summers236"/>

In response Hun Sen issued an ultimatum, calling for Ranariddh to make a choice between siding with the Khmer Rouge or with the coalition government.<ref name="Summers236"/> Eleven days later, he stopped working with Ranariddh altogether.<ref name="HRW2007">{{cite web |author=Brad Adams |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2007/07/27/cambodia-july-1997-shock-and-aftermath |title=Cambodia: July 1997: Shock and Aftermath |date=28 July 1996 |access-date=1 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709210709/https://www.hrw.org/news/2007/07/27/cambodia-july-1997-shock-and-aftermath |archive-date=9 July 2015 |work=Human Rights Watch |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 3 July 1997, while travelling to Phnom Penh, Ranariddh encountered troops aligned to the CPP. These troops persuaded his bodyguards to surrender their weapons,<ref name="HRW2007"/> which prompted him to flee Cambodia the following day.<ref>Mehta (2001), p. 110</ref> On 5 July, fighting broke out between RCAF troops separately aligned to CPP and FUNCINPEC, after CPP-aligned generals unsuccessfully attempted to coax FUNCINPEC-aligned troops into surrendering their weapons.<ref name="Peou300">Peou (2000), p. 300</ref> The FUNCINPEC-aligned units suffered major casualties the following day, and subsequently fled from Phnom Penh to the border town of [[O Smach]] in Oddar Meanchey Province.<ref>Mehta (2013), pp. 257–58</ref><ref>Widyono (2008), p. 254</ref>