The Hun Sen ally denied the claims and Mr Rainsy was convicted of defamation in 2013 and sentenced to two years in prison.
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In a video posted on his Facebook page over the weekend, Rainsy said he would defy the warrant and return to Cambodia as planned, setting up a potential showdown late on Monday. Officials from his party said he had delayed his return to avoid the possibility of violence.
“We are deeply concerned” by the removal of Rainsy from the National Assembly, the Embassy said in statement.
The 13-member standing committee comprises seven lawmakers from Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party and six from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, all of whom boycotted the special session.
Rainsy was already in exile when that conviction was meted out, and remained there until granted a supposed amnesty by Prime Minister Hun Sen to return in 2013 and contest the elections as the leader of the CNRP.
“After consulting with colleagues in Cambodia and a number of global pro-democracy organizations that have suggested that I should arrive in Phnom Penh in broad daylight and that I should also leave a few time for diplomatic intervention to materialize with the objective of reaching a peaceful solution to the recent escalation of violence in Cambodia, I am not arriving at Phnom Penh worldwide Airport tonight at 22:20 as originally scheduled”, he wrote.
Yesterday Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng signed a letter that said the government had made a decision to create a committee to enforce the arrest warrant against Mr. Rainsy.
“We call on the National Assembly to reinstate him immediately and to restore his parliamentary immunity”.
The defamation case relates to comments Mr Rainsy made in 2008 alleging that foreign minister Hor Namhong was implicated in crimes at a Khmer Rouge camp in the late 1970s.
The U.S. State Department on Monday appealed to Cambodia’s government to drop the arrest warrant against Sam Rainsy, return him to his lawmaker status, and give him back his parliamentary privileges, saying that its actions are tantamount to persecuting the opposition party.
Sam Rainsy survived a grenade attack in 1997 which left 16 supporters dead.
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He said he also questioned the committee about why Sam Rainsy was previously recognized as a lawmaker by the National Election Committee (NEC)-which oversees the country’s polls-parliament and the royal family, if he was guilty of the defamation charge. Each group is required to collect information at its locations, protect the security of Mr. Rainsy when transferred to prison and ensure there is no interruption to the enforcement of the arrest warrant. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
