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href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D1%81_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BC" title="Лес Косем – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Лес Косем" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Kosem" title="Les Kosem – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Les Kosem" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9B%B7%C2%B7%E6%A0%BC%E6%A3%AE" title="雷·格森 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="雷·格森" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span 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.hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">The native form of this <a href="/wiki/Personal_name" title="Personal name">personal name</a> is <i>Kosem Les</i>. This article uses <a href="/wiki/Personal_name#Western_name_order" title="Personal name">Western name order</a> when mentioning individuals.</div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">In this <a href="/wiki/Cambodian_name" title="Cambodian name">Cambodian name</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Surname" title="Surname">surname</a> is <i> Kosem</i>. In accordance with Cambodian custom, this person should be referred to by the <a href="/wiki/Given_name" title="Given name">given name</a>, <i>Les</i>.</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size: 100%;"><div class="fn" style="font-size:125%;">Les Kosem</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-subheader" style="font-size:125%; font-weight:bold;"><div class="nickname" lang="km">កូសេម ឡេស</div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:Les_Kosem_pic.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bc/Les_Kosem_pic.png/220px-Les_Kosem_pic.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="305" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bc/Les_Kosem_pic.png 1.5x" data-file-width="268" data-file-height="371" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122; background:lavender;line-height:normal;padding:0.2em;"><a href="/wiki/Ambassador-at-large" title="Ambassador-at-large">Ambassador</a> of <a href="/wiki/Khmer_Republic" title="Khmer Republic">Khmer Republic</a> at large</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data" style="border-bottom:none"><span class="nowrap"><b>In office</b></span><br />1974–1975</td><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:left"><span class="nowrap">Prime Minister</span></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Long_Boret" title="Long Boret">Long Boret</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:left"><span class="nowrap">Preceded by</span></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Lon_Non" title="Lon Non">Lon Non</a></td></tr><tr style="display:none"><td colspan="2"> </td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122; background:lavender">Personal details</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Born</th><td class="infobox-data">1927</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Died</th><td class="infobox-data">1976<br /><a href="/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Political party</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Front_for_the_Liberation_of_Champa" title="Front for the Liberation of Champa">Front for the Liberation of Champa</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Nickname</th><td class="infobox-data">Po Nagar</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122; background:lavender">Military service</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Allegiance</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Flag_of_Cambodia.svg/23px-Flag_of_Cambodia.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Flag_of_Cambodia.svg/35px-Flag_of_Cambodia.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Flag_of_Cambodia.svg/46px-Flag_of_Cambodia.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="640" /></span></span> </span>Cambodia</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Branch/service</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Royal_Khmer_Armed_Forces" class="mw-redirect" title="Royal Khmer Armed Forces">Royal Khmer Armed Forces</a> (until 1970)<br /><a href="/wiki/Khmer_National_Armed_Forces" title="Khmer National Armed Forces">Khmer National Armed Forces</a> (from 1970)<br /><a href="/wiki/SDECE" class="mw-redirect" title="SDECE">SDECE</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Battles/wars</th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1116488514">.mw-parser-output .treeview ul{padding:0;margin:0}.mw-parser-output .treeview li{padding:0;margin:0;list-style-type:none;list-style-image:none}.mw-parser-output .treeview li li{background:url("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Treeview-grey-line.png")no-repeat 0 -2981px;padding-left:21px;text-indent:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .treeview li li:last-child{background-position:0 -5971px}.mw-parser-output .treeview li.emptyline>ul>.mw-empty-elt:first-child+.emptyline,.mw-parser-output .treeview li.emptyline>ul>li:first-child{background-position:0 9px}</style><div class="treeview"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Indochina_Wars" title="Indochina Wars">Indochina Wars</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Vietnam_War" title="Vietnam War">Vietnam War</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/FULRO_insurgency" title="FULRO insurgency">FULRO insurgency</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cambodian_Civil_War" title="Cambodian Civil War">Cambodian Civil War</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cambodian_coup_of_1970" class="mw-redirect" title="Cambodian coup of 1970">Cambodian coup of 1970</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></div> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-below" style="border-top: 1px solid right;"><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Les Kosem</b> (<a href="/wiki/Khmer_language" title="Khmer language">Khmer</a>: <span lang="km">កូសេម ឡេស</span> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1177148991">.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}</style><span class="IPA-label IPA-label-small">pronounced</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="km-Latn-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Khmer" title="Help:IPA/Khmer">[kɔoseːm<span class="wrap"> </span>leːh]</a></span>), also known by the <i><a href="/wiki/Nom_de_guerre" class="mw-redirect" title="Nom de guerre">nom de guerre</a></i> "<a href="/wiki/Po_Nagar" title="Po Nagar">Po Nagar</a>", was a <a href="/wiki/Cham_(Asia)" class="mw-redirect" title="Cham (Asia)">Cham</a> military officer and a prominent figure in the <a href="/wiki/Second_Indochina_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Second Indochina War">Second Indochina War</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Cambodian_Civil_War" title="Cambodian Civil War">Cambodian Civil War</a>. </p><p>Kosem, a <a href="/wiki/Paratroop" class="mw-redirect" title="Paratroop">paratroop</a> colonel, was the most senior Cham officer in the Royal Cambodian Army. During the later 1950s, he had been responsible for setting up the FLC (<i><a href="/wiki/Front_de_Lib%C3%A9ration_du_Champa" class="mw-redirect" title="Front de Libération du Champa">Front de Libération du Champa</a></i>) which is an organisation seeking greater autonomy for the <a href="/wiki/Chams" title="Chams">Cham people</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-hickey175_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hickey175-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 1964, acting on the advice of a <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">French</a> 'handler', Kosem made overtures to the leadership of BAJARAKA, a group seeking independence for the <a href="/wiki/Degar" class="mw-redirect" title="Degar">Degar</a> people of the Vietnamese Central Highlands. Kosem was thought to have been acting as a <a href="/wiki/Double_agent" title="Double agent">double agent</a>, working for both the Cambodian secret service and the French <a href="/wiki/SDECE" class="mw-redirect" title="SDECE">SDECE</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-hickey175_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hickey175-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-white_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-white-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The link between the FLC, BAJARAKA, and the <a href="/wiki/Khmer_Krom" title="Khmer Krom">Khmer Krom</a> "White Scarves" separatist movement was to result in the creation of the guerrilla movement <a href="/wiki/FULRO" class="mw-redirect" title="FULRO">FULRO</a>. </p><p>In 1968, after internal disagreements within FULRO, Kosem was to surround the movement's headquarters with several battalions of the Royal Cambodian Army, and arrest its president <a href="/wiki/Y_Bham_Enuol" title="Y Bham Enuol">Y Bham Enuol</a>. </p><p>Kosem was also heavily involved in directing clandestine shipments of weapons from the port of <a href="/wiki/Sihanoukville_(city)" class="mw-redirect" title="Sihanoukville (city)">Sihanoukville</a> in Cambodia to the <a href="/wiki/Viet_Cong" title="Viet Cong">Viet Cong</a>, in accordance with a secret arrangement between the Cambodian Head of State, <a href="/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk" title="Norodom Sihanouk">Norodom Sihanouk</a>, and the North Vietnamese.<sup id="cite_ref-foia_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-foia-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Following the <a href="/wiki/Cambodian_coup_of_1970" class="mw-redirect" title="Cambodian coup of 1970">Cambodian coup of 1970</a>, Kosem became a prominent supporter of the <a href="/wiki/Khmer_Republic" title="Khmer Republic">Khmer Republic</a> regime of <a href="/wiki/Lon_Nol" title="Lon Nol">Lon Nol</a>, and rose to the rank of general within the <a href="/wiki/Khmer_National_Armed_Forces" title="Khmer National Armed Forces">Khmer National Armed Forces</a> (FANK); he was part of the influential circle of officers around Nol's brother, <a href="/wiki/Lon_Non" title="Lon Non">Lon Non</a>. In the first years of the civil war fought by Lon Nol's forces against the <a href="/wiki/Khmer_Rouge" title="Khmer Rouge">Khmer Rouge</a> communists, Kosem's troops of the 5th Special Brigade were repeatedly engaged in the most active areas of insurgency, and gained a reputation for allegedly systematically slaughtering the inhabitants of pro-Khmer Rouge villages; the counterproductive results of this reputation led to the unit eventually being disbanded, according to some sources.<sup id="cite_ref-vickery_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-vickery-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Kosem became well known for his ferocity and for corruption, although was also known for his generosity.<sup id="cite_ref-chd241_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-chd241-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After 1974 he was appointed as a roving ambassador for the Khmer Republic. </p><p>After the Khmer Rouge victory of April 1975, Kosem escaped to <a href="/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a>. He died of natural causes several years later.<sup id="cite_ref-chd241_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-chd241-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Les_Kosem&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-hickey175-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-hickey175_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hickey175_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Hickey, G. <i>Window on a war: an anthropologist in the Vietnam conflict</i>, p.175</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-white-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-white_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">White, T. <i>Swords of lightning: special forces and the changing face of warfare</i>, Brassey's, 1992, p.143</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-foia-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-foia_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ahern, T. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.foia.cia.gov/vietnam/4_GOOD_QUESTIONS_WRONG_ANSWERS.pdf">Good Questions, Wrong Answers</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090724215323/http://www.foia.cia.gov/vietnam/4_GOOD_QUESTIONS_WRONG_ANSWERS.pdf">Archived</a> July 24, 2009, at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, declassified CSI study on arms shipments through Sihanoukville during Vietnam War</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-vickery-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-vickery_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Vickery, M. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.pacificdiscovery.org/credit/SEAreadings/Vickery.%20The%20Gentle%20Land.pdf">Cambodia 1975-1982</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090806060648/http://www.pacificdiscovery.org/credit/SEAreadings/Vickery.%20The%20Gentle%20Land.pdf">Archived</a> 2009-08-06 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-chd241-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-chd241_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-chd241_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Corfield, J. and Summers, L. <i>Historical Dictionary of Cambodia</i>, Scarecrow Press, 2002, p.241</span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1&useformat=desktop" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; 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