Sunday, September 12, 1999; 8:29 a.m. EDT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose own country is subject to U.S. aid restrictions, has lashed out at Washington for its economic embargo on Cuba.

In a speech in Havana broadcast late Saturday on Cambodian television, Hun Sen criticized ``an uncivilized economic embargo of more than 40 years.''

``On behalf of the Cambodian government, I wish to express my strong position by demanding the lifting of unjust economic sanctions against Cuba, because sanctions for pressure is not the means for solving problems between sovereign states,'' Hun Sen said.

The Cambodian premier spoke after accepting Cuba's highest honor, the Order of Jose Marti award during a five-day visit to Cuba.

Hun Sen led a communist regime in Cambodia from 1985 to 1991, and was subject to a Western embargo imposed after Vietnam occupied the country in a 1979 invasion.

After the Vietnamese withdrew in the late 1980s, Hun Sen lost his post in U.N.-sponsored elections in 1993. But he regained power in a 1997 coup d'etat that spurred the United States to cut off all aid.

Hun Sen re-established his legitimacy in the eyes of the international community by winning a 1998 election, but the U.S. Congress has continued to block direct aid to his government. However, Washington currently contributes about $10 million a year to non-governmental development agencies.