Wong Maye-e / AP

A elderly woman mourns the death of former king Norodom Sihanouk at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Oct. 18.

Cambodians gathered to pray at the Royal Palace on Thursday, the day after the body of their former king Norodom Sihanouk was returned to the palace. It will lie in state for the next three months before a traditional cremation ceremony is held. The former king, a revered figure who ruled through the triumph of independence to the tragedy of Cambodia's brutal civil war, died of a heart attack in Beijing on Monday at the age of 89. 

Wong Maye-e / AP

Candles are reflected on a portrait of Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk at the Royal Palace on Oct. 18.

Wong Maye-e / AP

A man mourns former king Norodom Sihanouk at the Royal Palace.

Stephen Morrison / EPA

A young woman holds incense sticks while praying.

Chris Mcgrath / Getty Images

A portrait of former king Norodom Sihanouk hangs at the entrance to the Royal Palace.

Earlier on PhotoBlog:
Cambodia mourns as ex-king's body comes home

Samrang Pring / Reuters

A Buddhist monk and a woman with a portrait of the late Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk in Phnom Penh on October 17, 2012.

Wong Maye-E / AP

People gather at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh to mourn their former king, whose body of Sihanouk returned to his homeland on a plane from China on Wednesday.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

A mourner cries as the king's coffin arrives at the Royal Palace.

Reuters reports — Tens of thousands poured into Cambodia's capital to witness the procession on Wednesday of the body of former king Norodom Sihanouk, a revered figure who ruled through the triumph of independence to the tragedy of its brutal civil war.

Mourners dressed in white lined the 6-mile route to welcome the return of Sihanouk, who died of heart failure on Monday in Beijing.

"I feel very sorry, I want to see him one last time," said Mon Met, 48, who waited at the Royal Palace for his body to arrive.

"I only remember him as the person that brought happiness to the country. Now I feel scared of what happens next." Read the full story.

Heng Sinith / AP

The casket containing the body of King Norodom Sihanouk is carried on a float shaped like a phoenix in the procession through Phnom Penh.

Samrang Pring / Reuters

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk greet people during the arrival of former king Norodom Sihanouk's coffin at Phnom Penh international airport.

Chris McGrath / Getty Images

People light candles and pray to honur former King Norodom Sihanouk in front of the Royal Palace.

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Samrang Pring / Reuters

A riot police officer fires tear gas at residents during a forced eviction at the Borei Keila complex in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Jan. 3, 2012.

Mak Remissa / EPA

A resident looks at her destroyed house at a squatter area in Phnom Penh on Jan. 3, 2012. More than 200 houses were demolished.

Reuters reports:

Cambodian human rights group Licadho said that police officers and residents were injured in a face-off when hundreds of armed authorities tried to evict families from their homes in Borei Keila, Phnom Penh, as part of a long running dispute with a local real estate firm well-connected with the government.

The firm, Phanimex, plans to convert the residential complex into a commercial building. Licadho said that at least 12 people had also been detained following the violent clashes. 

Samrang Pring / Reuters

A riot police officer throws stones at residents during clashes that erupted in the midst of a forced eviction at the Borei Keila complex on Jan. 3, 2012.

Samrang Pring / Reuters

A woman cries as an excavator demolishes her home during a forced eviction at the Borei Keila complex on Jan. 3, 2012.

The Phnom Penh Post has more on the background to the dispute:

In 2003, Phan Imex Company signed an agreement with the government to construct 10 six-floor buildings on two hectares of land to house 1,776 displaced families, in exchange for the right to develop the remaining 2.6 hectares.

The company has constructed only eight buildings, leaving nearly 400 families without housing. Read the full story.