Opponents of Coup Leader Flee Cambodia

Frightened by the death of a second opposition figure, opponents of coup leader Hun Sen scrambled Wednesday to get on planes evacuating hundreds of foreigners from Cambodia. Menacing soldiers, some clearly drunk, roamed the streets here in the capital looking for others to arrest.

Meanwhile, the United States ordered all but 20 of its diplomats out of the country and urged more than 1,000 other Americans to leave, saying the U.S. government can’t guarantee their safety.

Washington also ordered three warships and 2,200 Marines to head toward Cambodia in case an evacuation of Americans becomes necessary. Oklahoma students who had traveled to the Southeast Asian nation to teach English were evacuated and arrived safely in Thailand.

“We are very concerned and obviously disturbed by the fact that the democracy that is beginning to grow in Cambodia, that the people of Cambodia voted for in overwhelming numbers . . . is now subjected to this kind of force,” Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in an interview with public television.

While Hun Sen’s forces consolidated control over the capital, fierce fighting in the northwest raised fears that Cambodia was plunging once again into civil war.

Chau Sambath, a senior security advisor to ousted co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh, turned up dead Wednesday under mysterious circumstances--one day after another vocal critic of Hun Sen, former Interior Minister Ho Sok, was summarily executed while in custody.

Hun Sen’s people claimed that Chau Sambath committed suicide, but others said he was shot and killed trying to escape arrest.

King Norodom Sihanouk’s daughter, dancer Norodom Bopha Devi, fled to the airport to try to catch an evacuation flight along with several aides to Ranariddh, who is also among the king’s children.

The Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations was to meet today to review Cambodia’s entry into the group. At the same time, several members--Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand--evacuated more than 1,000 people Wednesday to signal their disapproval of Hun Sen.