In August 1996, Khmer Rouge leaders Pol Pot and Ieng Sary publicly split, with the former denouncing the latter in a radio broadcast. Ieng Sary responded by disassociating himself from the Khmer Rouge and went on to form his own political party, the Democratic National Union Movement. This prompted Ranariddh and Hun Sen to briefly set their political differences aside to jointly seek a royal pardon for Ieng Sary, who had been sentenced to death by the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) government in 1979. Subsequently, in October and December 1996, both Ranariddh and Hun Sen competed to win Ieng Sary's favour by separately visiting the leader at his fiefdom in Pailin. Hun Sen gained the upper hand, when he convinced Khmer Rouge soldiers under Ieng Sary's charge to join the CPP. Ranariddh canceled a follow-up visit to Samlout, another town located within Ieng Sary's fiefdom, when Sary's soldiers threatened to shoot down Ranariddh's helicopter if he went there.