Diplomatic Moves Focus on Cambodia

With fighting escalating in Cambodia between government troops and three guerrilla factions, a flurry of diplomatic moves was reported to be under way Wednesday in an effort to settle the conflict.

After four days of denials, the government in Phnom Penh admitted Wednesday that guerrillas of the Khmer Rouge faction had attacked four villages on the outskirts of Battambang, Cambodia’s second-largest city, last Friday.

The Khmer Rouge had said that Battambang was set afire in the fighting, but a statement issued by the Cambodian government and broadcast by Phnom Penh radio said that between 100 and 200 Khmer Rouge guerrillas were repulsed after attempting to blow up a bridge near O Sralau. Nine Khmer Rouge guerrillas were reported killed in the encounter; government casualties were not given.

The Khmer Rouge attack at Battambang, although apparently on a far smaller scale than suggested by early guerrilla reports, was nonetheless a psychological lift for the resistance at a crucial moment in the conflict, according to Western diplomats.

Fighting has intensified in western Cambodia since September, when Vietnam completed the withdrawal of its troops after more than a decade of occupation.

Diplomats met in Paris last August in an effort to bring an end to the fighting but had no success, primarily because the Phnom Penh government refused to accept the participation of the Khmer Rouge in a four-party interim government that would administer the country until after elections.

The Khmer Rouge, which has been accused of killing more than 1 million Cambodians while it ruled the country from 1975 to 1979, is the strongest of the three rebel factions, all based in Thailand, that have been fighting to overthrow the Vietnamese-installed government in Phnom Penh. The resistance alliance occupies the Cambodian seat at the United Nations.

In an effort to overcome the impasse of the talks in Paris, Australia proposed in October that the United Nations take over the administration of Cambodia pending elections.

So far, reaction to the Australian proposal has been generally favorable, although the Khmer Rouge reportedly told Australian envoy Michael Costello in Bangkok last week that the plan is unacceptable. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the leader of another resistance faction, has given qualified acceptance to the plan, provided that the U.N. seat remains in the hands of the opposition.

On Tuesday, the United States indicated its support for the Australian proposal.

The State Department also said that the United States and four other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council--Britain, France, the Soviet Union and China--will meet Monday and Tuesday in Paris to consider the latest diplomatic moves. The U.S. delegation will be headed by Assistant Secretary of State Richard H. Solomon, the State Department’s top Asia expert.

Meanwhile, Igor Rogachev, deputy foreign minister of the Soviet Union, opened talks in Beijing on the Cambodian dispute, and diplomats said this could be the most interesting of the diplomatic initiatives.

The Soviet Union is the principal supplier of arms to the Phnom Penh government, while China is the arms supplier of the Khmer Rouge. Rogachev was reportedly pursuing an initiative put forth by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze aimed at achieving a moratorium on all arms supplies to Cambodia. The Chinese are not considered likely to agree.

Costello, the Australian envoy, met over the weekend with Vietnamese officials and Cambodian Premier Hun Sen. Costello is to arrive today in Paris.

In Bangkok, meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, who has been the host for four rounds of peace talks involving the Cambodian factions, met Wednesday with representatives of the guerrilla groups. He planned to travel to Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday for talks with the Vietnamese and Cambodians.