46 Peacekeepers Freed in Cambodia

Khmer Rouge guerrillas early today allowed 46 Indonesian U.N. peacekeepers to leave a hamlet where they had been holding them, a U.N. spokesman said.

“It would appear that the 46 men belonging to the Indonesian battalion left Phum O’Sala an hour ago,” Eric Falt, spokesman for the U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia, told a news briefing.

The guerrillas had detained the troops Thursday, just hours after releasing 21 U.N. personnel in the same troubled province of Kompong Thom, a U.N. spokesman said.

The Khmer Rouge detentions have heightened fears that the peace accord that ended 13 years of civil war is unraveling.

The 46 Indonesians had entered Khmer Rouge territory to discuss how to avoid future incidents of that sort, Falt said.

The local Khmer Rouge commander told the United Nations he would free the captives when he receives written instructions from his commander, Falt said.

The United Nations has met increasing resistance from the Khmer Rouge, which refuses to disarm as stipulated in peace accords signed last year. The Khmer Rouge also has refused to let U.N. forces enter the 15% of the countryside it controls.