Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Tue, 29 Sep 1992 10:39:06 -0400
From:         Nhan Tran <tran@PEORA.SDC.CCUR.COM>
Subject:      CAM: UN envoy Akashi looks to Sec. Council to solve Cambodia
              problem

09/28

U.N. ENVOY YASUSHI AKASHI LOOKS TO SECURITY COUNCIL TO SOLVE CAMBODIA PROBLEM

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (SEPT. 28) UPI - The U.N. envoy in Cambodia, Yasushi
Akashi, left for New York, where he hopes the deadlock between United Nations
and the radical Khmer Rouge faction over the peace process can be discussed at
a new level.

The Khmer Rouge, the largest of the three former resistance factions which
fought the Vietnamese-installed government in Phnom Penh, has been refusing to
cooperate with U.N. troops overseeing implementation of a peace accord signed
in Paris last October.

Head of state Prince Norodom Sihanouk and representatives of the four factions
which signed the peace accord will also be in New York for next week's Security
Council debate on Cambodia.

''The next steps will be taken in New York when the Security Council meets and
Prince Sihanouk and representatives of the four factions gather with
representatives from other countries,'' Akashi said Sunday, referring to the 19
countries which also signed the Paris agreement.

''There might be efforts to give new life to dialogue and negotiation so that
(the Khmer Rouge) will be faced with new demands, new expressions of desire for
them to cooperate,'' Akashi told United Press International before leaving for
New York.

The Japanese-born diplomat said he is not taking new proposals to the Khmer
Rouge, but there would be a new emphasis, ''a confirmation of certain steps we
are embarking on.''

''It will be good for the Security Council to take stock of the situation, to
concentrate their forces and thinking to cope with the difficulties created by
(the Khmer Rouge's) refusal to disarm their troops,'' Akashi said.

Asked whether the United Nations would be ''getting tough'' with the Khmer
Rouge or continue its softly-softly approach in negotiations, Akashi said both
tactics would probably be used.

''It will be a dual policy,'' he said. ''There may be application of greater
pressure, at the same time keeping the door open so we can keep talking and
negotiating and addressing any areas of genuine concern (the Khmer Rouge) might
have. So a combination of the two.''

Akashi was speaking after Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating ended a
one-day visit to Cambodia, during which he had lengthy discussions with the
U.N. envoy and his military commander, Gen. John Sanderson.

Australia has taken an active part in the Cambodian peace process, and Keating
was the first Western head of government to visit Cambodia since 1975, when the
Khmer Rouge seized power.

Akashi said Keating told him he believed the U.N. operation was on target and
should proceed to elections next year, regardless of whether the Khmer Rouge
decides to rejoin the process.

The Maoist Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975 for a brutal reign that killed at
least 1 million Cambodians before being ousted from power by invading
Vietnamese troops in 1979. Hanoi installed a new government, and in 1989
Vietnam announced the last of its combat troops had pulled out of the country.

However, rebel groups including the Khmer Rouge continued battling to oust the
Hanoi-installed government until the Paris agreement on a U.N. peace plan was
forged last October.

The Khmer Rouge dropped out of the peacekeeping mission in mid-June when U.N.
troops began disarming soldiers of the government and the two non-communist
factions.

The Khmer Rouge's intransigence since then has forced the United Nations to
consider taking the country to general elections next May without the so-called
''rebel'' faction.

''Prime Minister Keating feels the U.N. has been doing the right things, that
there is no need for us to alter or change the course and we should continue
with the preparations for elections by May at the latest,'' said Akashi.

''The Security Council next week may tell us in more concrete terms what we
should be doing.''

During his 8 1/2 hours in Phnom Penh, Keating also met with Sihanouk, who told
him the Khmer Rouge will not accept the outcome of the U.N.- supervised
elections because it contends Vietnamese people ''disguised as Cambodians''
will be allowed to vote.

The prince said Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan has told him he is not worried
that sanctions may be imposed against his faction by the international
community. Sihanouk said the sanctions would therefore not be effective.

He said the deadlock with the Khmer Rouge had reached the point where the
Security Council should reconsider the Cambodian problem.
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