"He was shot dead at a mart just before 9am," Kirt Chantharith, national police spokesman, told AFP.A suspect was arrested nearby and confessed to killing the analyst over an unpaid debt, Kirt Chantharith said. One group of women were in tears.Local media showed pictures of the alleged suspect being taken into custody. "But we don’t believe him yet. The daylight slaying of Kem Ley comes at a time of heightened political tensions between strongman premier Hun Sen and the country’s political opposition, who accuse the prime minister of launching a fresh crackdown against them.Police said Kem Ley, a popular commentator and grassroots campaigner, was gunned down as he drank coffee at a convenience store attached to a gas station in the capital Phnom Penh. We are working on this case," he added.Cambodia has a long a tragic history of rights and labour advocates being murdered with their killers rarely brought to justice.An AFP photographer at the scene said Kem Ley’s body lay in a large pool of blood below a metal table inside the convenience store.Hundreds of onlookers had gathered as police cordoned off the area.

Source: The Nation Bangkok July 10, 2016 05:37 UTC