U.S. Lauds Hanoi’s Plan to Pull Troops From Cambodia by Fall

The State Department on Wednesday praised Vietnam’s announcement that it would pull its troops out of Cambodia by Sept. 30, saying such a step would restore peace there.

“Although we have not yet seen complete details of the Vietnamese statement, we do believe that if the withdrawal is carried out, it would be a positive development,” said Richard Boucher, a department spokesman.

Vietnam previously had said it would withdraw its troops, estimated at 70,000, by the end of 1990--and would be out by next September only if a political settlement has been reached.

Wednesday’s announcement gave no indication that any conditions were attached to the September pullout.

Invite Monitoring

A joint statement by Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos said an international commission was invited to oversee the pullout and guarantee an end to foreign military aid to parties to the conflict.

But Cambodia’s Hanoi-backed government quickly reserved the right to summon the troops back if foreign aid to the resistance is not curtailed.

“If the foreign countries do not honor their commitments to put a complete end to the military aid to the Cambodian parties . . . (Cambodia) would reserve its legitimate right to call on other countries to give assistance to the Cambodian people to defend themselves,” the statement said.

Cambodian Premier Hun Sen is expected to announce concessions to end a decade of fighting between his government and guerrillas from a coalition of three rebel groups based along Cambodia’s western border with Thailand.

Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia on Christmas Day, 1978, and drove out Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, under whose rule more than 1 million Cambodians died.