Khmer Rouge Will Return; Cambodia Coalition Saved

The fledgling Cambodian coalition government was saved from collapse Tuesday when the Khmer Rouge guerrilla group agreed to return to the Cambodian capital after receiving firm assurances from the Phnom Penh regime that it would not allow a repetition of last week’s near-lynching of a Khmer Rouge leader.

A smiling Khieu Samphan, the nominal head of the Khmer Rouge, said after a day of talks in this Thai beach resort that he is now willing to return to Phnom Penh, despite the attack last Wednesday that bloodied him and wrecked the Khmer Rouge’s headquarters in the capital.

Khieu Samphan and his aides were rescued from an angry mob by Phnom Penh government troops, who bustled them into armored personnel carriers and drove them to the airport, where they were flown to Bangkok.

The Khmer Rouge, which ruled Cambodia from 1975 to early 1979, has been blamed for the deaths of more than 1 million people through execution, starvation and disease.

Under a compromise worked out Tuesday by the four Cambodian factions, the Khmer Rouge will live in the building in Phnom Penh that houses the offices of the coalition government, known as the Supreme National Council. The former state guest house will be guarded by Phnom Penh government troops. But under a compromise worked out with representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council, U.N. liaison officers also will be stationed in the building as a deterrent against new attacks.

Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who returned to Cambodia last month as interim head of state, will go on national television and appeal to the people to maintain a “peaceful and neutral political environment,” according to a communique being drafted after the talks.

No date was set for the return of the Khmer Rouge to Phnom Penh, because the headquarters building must be converted to provide accommodations for the 30-member Khmer Rouge delegation. “We need some time to buy the furniture and prepare the bathrooms,” said Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Sihanouk’s son and a leader of one of the four factions at Tuesday’s talks.

The Supreme National Council, made up of six members from the Phnom Penh government and six members from a resistance coalition, agreed that its staff would start work in the headquarters building in mid-December.