U.N. begins disarming Cambodian soldiers
By Nate Thayer
June 14,1992
Associated Press Writer
PREY VENG PROVINCE, Cambodia — The Khmer Rouge refused to take part in the U.N.- directed disarmament of Cambodia's four fighting factions that began Saturday. The disarming of government soldiers and three guerrilla groups is a critical element of the peace plan that all sides agreed to last year. The Khmer Rouge said other aspects of the plan were not being adhered to, so it would not lay down its weapons.
The Khmer Rouge position raises the possibility of a new surge in fighting because other factions have warned that they will respond in kind to any aggression. The Khmer Rouge has attacked several government positions during the past few weeks. Troops of the Phnom Penh government turned over guns and ammunition on Saturday and reported to sites for cantonment, or temporary quartering, in several areas of the country, including this eastern province.
At cantonment sites in Prey Veng and near the capital, Phnom Penh, more than a ton of ammunition was turned over to the United Nations. Gen. John Sanderson, the military commander of the U.N. operations, told reporters that no Khmer Rouge guerillas showed up at the sites. Yasushi Akashi, the overall leader of the U.N. mission, said, "Time is very much running out. The door is gradually being closed."
It could not immediately be determined whether any weapons had been turned over by fighters of the two noncommunist guerrilla factions: the Khmer People's National Liberation Front and fighters loyal to Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who now leads the reconciliation council that is guiding Cambodia through the transitional period until free elections are conducted.
The U.N. Security Council on Friday appealed to the Khmer Rouge to rejoin the peace process. The statement, released in New York, said, "Any delay could jeopardize the whole peace process."
Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan reiterated Friday that his faction would refuse to cooperate until the U.N. force first verified that Vietnamese troops had left the country and that the Phnom Penh government was stripped of most of its powers. Vietnam said it withdrew its last troops in September 1989, and the U.N. mission said it had no evidence that any Vietnamese soldiers remained in the country.
Cambodia has suffered 22 years of warfare and turmoil, sparked by a 1970 coup by pro-U.S. military officers. A Vietnamese invasion in late 1978 brought down the Khmer Rouge government, which led a three-year reign of terror over the country. More than 1 million of Cambodia's 8 million people died under Khmer Rouge rule — by execution, in civil unrest and from starvation.
A representative for the rebel National Liberation Front vowed to join with the government to battle Khmer Rouge forces if they would not cease their fighting.