File photo taken on Dec. 17, 2014 shows Sok An speaking at a public event in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Sok An passed away on Wednesday evening at the age of 66 due to illness, the government said in a statement. (Xinhua/Sovannara)
PHNOM PENH, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Sok An passed away on Wednesday at the age of 66 due to illness, the government said in a statement.
"Samdech Vibol Panha Sok An, a member of parliament, deputy prime minister and minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, died at 18:32 on March 15, 2017 at a hospital in Beijing at the age of 66 due to illness," the statement said.
Sok An was one of the country's most prominent politicians. In the ruling Cambodian People's Party, he was a standing committee member.
In the government, he had served as the minister in charge of the Council of Ministers since 1998; and he was promoted to the rank of a deputy prime minister in 2004.
