Amid escalating tensions between the two rival parties in Cambodia's ruling coalition, Japan and other aid-donor countries and organizations will hold a two-day meeting in Paris at the beginning of next month to discuss fresh economic assistance for Phnom Penh, government officials said June 19.

The second meeting of the "consultative group" of aid donors for Cambodia, which was inaugurated in Tokyo last summer, will be held in the French capital on July 1-2 under the sponsorship of the World Bank, the officials said, requesting that they not be named. The officials said the consultative group will also discuss political issues in Cambodia, including the escalating rivalry between the ruling parties led by the two joint premiers, at an informal meeting to be held on the fringes of the formal talks on economic assistance for the Southeast Asian country.

Late June 17, bodyguards loyal to First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh and those loyal to Second Prime Minister Hun Sen engaged in a two-hour gunfight in Phnom Penh, leaving at least two dead and three wounded. The shootout has raised strong concerns over the country's future among Japan and other aid donors, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which will admit Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar next month, creating an "ASEAN 10" with a combined population of some 500 million.