Breakaway Khmer Rouge recognize government<\/p>\n
PHNOM PENH (Reuter): Breakaway Khmer Rouge guerrillas loyal to
\nIeng Sary recognize the authority of the Cambodian government and
\nthe ideals of a single state, territory and administration, co-
\nPremier Hun Sen said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The second prime minister, speaking at the opening of a
\nwomen's training center, said the guerrillas who have broken away
\nfrom hardliners led by Pol Pot had also recognized a 1994 law
\nthat banned the Maoist Khmer Rouge movement.<\/p>\n
\"They recognize the royal Cambodian government, including the
\nlaw that outlawed the Khmer Rouge, and they want their army and
\npeople to live with the royal government under one state, one
\nterritory, one national administration,\" Hun Sen said.<\/p>\n
\"The (hardline) Khmer Rouge is one step from the end,\" added
\nthe premier, who on Monday for the first time met senior leaders
\nof the breakaway guerrilla factions, including Ieng Sary's
\nbrother, Ieng Vudh.<\/p>\n
First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh told reporters
\nthat the dissidents had told negotiators at high-level talks on
\nThursday that they supported a multi-party democracy, the
\nmonarchy and the Buddhist religion.<\/p>\n
\"What they seek most is to give mercy to Ieng Sary and other
\ndivision commanders,\" he said at Phnom Penh's Pochentong Airport,
\nadding that a joint working group would continue discussing ways
\nto gain access to the Khmer Rouge bases.<\/p>\n
The government's claims could not immediately be verified by
\nrepresentatives of the breakaway faction.<\/p>\n
Co-Defense Ministers Tea Banh and Tea Chamrath held the
\nhighest level talks to date with Ieng Sary on Thursday in
\nThailand.<\/p>\n
The ministers said when they arrived home on Saturday that the
\ntalks had been fruitful. But Tea Chamrath said they did not know
\nwhen a final agreement would be reached and signed.<\/p>\n
Sticking points included the government's desire to take over
\nthe territory that the guerrillas control in northwestern
\nCambodia, and what to do with Ieng Sary, who was foreign minister
\nduring the brutal 1975-79 Khmer Rouge rule.<\/p>\n
Ieng Sary was sentenced to death in absentia for his role in
\nthe 1970s genocide, when more than one million people died from
\nexecution, starvation, disease or overwork.<\/p>\n
Tea Banh told reporters in Thailand before meeting Ieng Sary
\nthat, \"the question of royal amnesty I think we can easily
\nimplement. But on the subject of integration of the territory
\n(his faction controls), we have to discuss further details.\"<\/p>\n
Ieng Sary split from the secretive Khmer Rouge movement after
\nhardliners accused him of massive embezzlement in early August
\nand ordered his execution.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/breakaway-khmer-rouge-recognize-government-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}