Khmer Rouge Claims Fight Taken to Cambodia Capital

Khmer Rouge guerrillas claimed today they attacked the Cambodian capital with grenades, forcing the president and premier to flee across the border to Vietnam and killing some soldiers and police.

The attack, which allegedly occurred Saturday, would be the most serious in Phnom Penh, largely spared in the 11-year-old war between the guerrillas and the Vietnamese-installed government. It could not be verified, and some previous communist Khmer Rouge claims have been exaggerated.

Diplomatic efforts began today in Bangkok, Beijing and Paris to try to resolve the Cambodian war following the report.

Igor Rochachev, a Soviet deputy foreign minister, arrived in Beijing for talks on Cambodia with Chinese Foreign Ministry officials. He likely will discuss an Australian proposal calling for the Vietnam-backed government in Phnom Penh to be replaced by an interim U.N. administration until free elections can be held, said Soviet Embassy spokesman Yuri Lysenko.

The Soviets back the government while China arms the guerrillas.

The French Foreign Ministry scheduled a meeting in Paris on Jan. 15-16 for the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council to discuss Cambodia, and the Australian plan could be on the agenda.

Also today, the non-communist resistance forces of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, allies of the Khmer Rouge, said they launched a series of grenade attacks on Phnom Penh between Dec. 5 and 10, wounding 16 Vietnamese and two Cambodian policemen. A statement said one attack occurred near Premier Hun Sen’s house and others in front of the Royal Palace and the Ministry of Defense.

The government’s SPK news agency, monitored in Bangkok today, did not mention any attack over the weekend. It said Sunday’s National Day celebrations took place in “total security” and that Saturday and Monday also were peaceful.

National Day marks the anniversary of the 1979 downfall of the Khmer Rouge, which was driven out by invading Vietnamese troops after a 3 1/2-year reign in which it killed hundreds of thousands of Cambodians while trying to create a primitive agrarian society.

Fears of a possible return to power of the Khmer Rouge have increased as they have made major battlefield advances since Vietnam claimed in September to have pulled the last of its troops from Cambodia.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Margaret D. Tutwiler said she had no information about the reported guerrilla offensive. In reply to a question, she again defended U.S. policy as supporting a role for the Khmer Rouge in any transitional government, but added: “We abhor the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge, we have said, are absolutely horrible.”