4 Cambodia Factions Agree on Vote in May; Khmer Rouge Role in Doubt

Cambodia’s four rival factions agreed Thursday to hold U.N.-supervised legislative elections in late May, the nation’s first democratic polls in 40 years. But the radical Khmer Rouge missed a deadline to take part.

The Khmer Rouge guerrilla group has dragged its feet on implementing a 1991 peace accord that ended 13 years of civil war. Its refusal to disarm and its disruption of the preparations for the elections have caused fears of renewed civil war.

Eric Falt, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Cambodia, said the elections will be held May 23-25. The date was set by representatives of the Vietnam-installed Phnom Penh government and Cambodia’s three guerrilla groups during nine hours of meetings in Beijing.

U.N. officials and ambassadors to Cambodia from the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia also attended the sessions.

Yasushi Akashi, the head of the U.N. force in Cambodia, appealed for all parties to participate peacefully in the elections. But the Khmer Rouge missed the registration deadline, midnight Wednesday.

A Khmer Rouge official in Phnom Penh, Meas Chey, said the guerrilla group ignored the deadline because it believes the election will favor the government.

Falt said the Khmer Rouge gave no indication during Thursday’s session that it would take part in the elections. But he said the group might decide later to participate.

About 4.6 million Cambodians have already been issued voter registration cards, exceeding expectations, Falt said. The deadline for voter registration is Jan. 31.

Although the four Cambodian factions signed a U.N.-brokered peace accord in 1991, scattered fighting has continued.

The Khmer Rouge has refused to disarm, as the peace accord requires, and has detained and threatened U.N. peacekeepers.