Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Thu, 7 Jan 1993 17:29:53 -0500
From:         Nhan Tran <tran@PEORA.SDC.CCUR.COM>
Subject:      CAM: Cam. gov. wants UN take firmer measures against Khmer Rouge

01/05

CAMBODIA WANTS U.N. TO BEGIN TAKING FIRMER ...

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (JAN. 5) UPI - The Phnom Penh government wants U.N.
authorities in Cambodia to start taking firmer measures against the radical
Khmer Rouge guerrilla group for not cooperating with the U.N. peacekeepers.
   A government statement released Tuesday warned that unless the international
community acted on "this very dangerous situation," the Cambodian people could
suffer a "second Khmer Rouge genocide."
   And at a press conference in the capital Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen
said the peace process was in "crisis" and the Paris Peace Agreement was on
the verge of collapse.
   He said that unless the Khmer Rouge rejoined the peace process in the next
four weeks they should be barred from the election and regarded as "outlaws."
   The prime minister said the U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)
should consider changing its mandate to have "more courage."
   "If U.N. sanctions cannot be implemented and there is no rectification of
the UNTAC mandate there will be some problems with the upcoming elections,"
Hun Sen said.
   The prime minister criticized the Khmer Rouge for "grabbing" substantial
amounts of territory from the government since October 1991, when the four
Cambodian factions signed the Paris accord and agreed to a cease-fire.
   He also criticized UNTAC for "running away" from the Khmer Rouge, and warned
that if this continued the United Nations would be shamed, the Cambodian people
would loose confidence in UNTAC, and fewer people would take part in the
election.
   "We do not want to see UNTAC run away from Khmer Rouge attacks because this
will be a kind of shame for the U.N.," Hun Sen said.
   "Some Cambodian people have been joking that UNTAC forces run faster than
the Cambodian people because UNTAC has planes and cars to run away, " Hun Sen
said.
   "When the elections come closer and the Khmer Rouge start to launch their
offensive everywhere, and everyone runs away, who will vote?" the prime
minister asked.
   In a three-page statement issued at the press conference, the government
proposed four measures, including expelling the Khmer Rouge from the Supreme
National Council (SNC), which brings together the four Cambodian factions.
   The Khmer Rouge dropped out of the peacekeeping operation in June and is
refusing to participate in U.N.-supervised elections scheduled for May.
   However, UNTAC is going ahead with the elections and leaving the door open
for the Khmer Rouge to rejoin the peace process at any time.
   But the government wants the door closed on Jan. 31, "Otherwise, these
elections will not be fair" because the Khmer Rouge is refusing to allow the
U.N., the government and any other parties into territory under their control,
the statement said.
   Yet the Khmer Rouge are allowed to continue sitting on the four- faction
SNC, which was set up 18 months ago to work with UNTAC.
   "If the Khmer Rouge continue to stay out of the elections, legally and
logically (they) have forfeited their rights to be part of the Council," said
the statement.
   The Khmer Rouge was responsible for the deaths of some one million
Cambodians during a four-year reign of terror before being ousted by invading
Vietnamese troops in 1979.
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