Cambodian Talks Facing Power-Sharing Issue

Leaders of warring Cambodian factions and their neighbors meet here today for a round of peace talks, but there is little sign of compromise on a key issue: how to share power after Vietnam’s troops withdraw.

“There is still a divergence of views, particularly on some of the more sensitive internal issues,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said Saturday, referring to how four factions that have fought for years can reconcile to rebuild their war-torn country.

Alatas is chairman of the three-day meeting involving Vietnam, the administration it set up in Cambodia early in 1979 and three guerrilla resistance groups.

Also taking part are Laos and the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations--the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

Alatas held three days of preparatory talks last week with Cambodian leaders.

“The possibility of reaching further common ground is quite real,” he told reporters. “Although we did not agree on all the issues, at least this was the first time we ranged over all the major elements of a possible solution.” These include a withdrawal of Vietnamese troops, halting military aid to the resistance and a peacekeeping or other force during the transition.

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach, upon arriving Saturday in Jakarta, said 50% of the problem has been solved.

And Premier Hun Sen of the Phnom Penh government added: “I believe we have come to the final stage of the problem.”

Khieu Samphan, nominal leader of the largest guerrilla group, the Communist Khmer Rouge, said he would spare no efforts to find a solution, but he restated a peace plan rejected by his foes.

The rest of the guerrilla alliance includes anti-communists under deposed Prime Minister Son Sann and Prince Norodom Sihanouk.