Cambodia Pact Imperiled as Khmer Rouge Shuns Truce

With the United Nations embarking on the largest peacekeeping mission in its history, a fragile truce in Cambodia was seriously undermined Saturday because of the refusal of the hated Khmer Rouge to agree to a cease-fire after a series of violent clashes in the north of the country.

The stalemate occurred on the eve of the arrival in Phnom Penh of Yasushi Akashi, a U.N. civil servant chosen to head the U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia, which will be formally deployed with his arrival.

Akashi is being accompanied by Australian Gen. John Sanderson, who is taking command of U.N. military forces in Cambodia. On Thursday, the first blue-helmeted peacekeeping troops from Indonesia arrived by boat and began deploying, a military force expected to swell to 16,000 soldiers from 19 countries.

At a total cost of $2 billion, the United Nations also plans to deploy 5,000 civilian experts in Cambodia, representing the largest peacekeeping mission in the history of the world body. Unlike previous peace missions, essentially designed to halt fighting and oversee truces, the United Nations in Cambodia is virtually taking control of the country for at least a year until free elections can be held.

The United Nations will supervise a cease-fire, regroup the four Cambodian military factions into 52 cantonment areas and oversee the demobilization of 70% of their forces. Meanwhile, civilian authorities will take over the running of key ministries such as defense and foreign affairs and will take control of the national police.

But the success or failure of the U.N. mission depends largely on the willingness of the four military factions to adhere to a peace agreement signed last October in Paris, which called for a complete in-place cease-fire.

While there have been reports of scattered skirmishes since the accord was signed, last week’s fighting in Kompong Thom province was the first sustained violation of the truce. According to U.N. officials and diplomats, at least 10 soldiers from the Phnom Penh government have been killed in the fighting with Khmer Rouge guerrillas. The Khmer Rouge, which is one of the four parties to the peace agreement, is widely detested in Cambodia for its bloody reign in the late 1970s, during which more than 1 million people died of privation, torture or execution.

The diplomats said that the Khmer Rouge appeared to be attempting to grab territory controlled by Phnom Penh in advance of the deployment of the U.N. forces, which will freeze the size of each group’s area of control.

French Gen. Jean-Michel Loridon, head of the military contingent for an interim U.N. force whose initials are UNAMIC, told reporters Saturday that the fighting in Kompong Thom northwest of Phnom Penh was the worst since the peace agreement was signed.

“All factions try to control as many villages as they can before the arrival of UNTAC because they know that when UNTAC arrives they have to stop,” Loridon said. Clearly angered by the last-minute violation of the truce, Loridon said he was prepared to send U.N. troops immediately to the area. He also blamed the Khmer Rouge for having shot at a U.N. helicopter last month, wounding the commander of the Australian contingent.

Under the peace agreement, violations of the truce are supposed to be settled by a four-party commission called the Mixed Military Working Group. The committee met Friday and Saturday without agreeing on a truce.

“The Khmer Rouge did not accept the proposals to stop fighting,” said Col. Moe Rupp, the Phnom Penh representative at the talks. “Our position is that we still abide by the cease-fire and respect the Paris agreement, but sometimes we have to defend ourselves.”

The outbreak of fighting illustrated the overwhelming task ahead for the U.N. force, despite its huge size. It will be coming to a country with virtually no working infrastructure, where wide areas are heavily mined and where armed soldiers regularly plunder rural areas for survival.