The World - News from Oct. 18, 1988

Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge boycotted the start of informal peace talks in Indonesia, but organizers of the session said 10 other Southeast Asian delegations will go ahead without them. Three of four warring Cambodian factions and seven neighboring countries are meeting in Jakarta. “Why should the absence of one participant hold up the work of the other 10?” Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said. Analysts say the boycott is a Khmer Rouge protest against a resolution submitted to the United Nations by the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations. It says that any peace formula should contain safeguards to prevent the Communist Khmer Rouge from returning to power in Cambodia.