Ousted Ranariddh urges ASEAN to help end war<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuter): Ousted Cambodian co-premier Prince Norodom
\nRanariddh urged Southeast Asian nations yesterday to help prevent
\ncivil war in his country.<\/p>\n
A civil war in Cambodia would directly affect neighboring
\nVietnam, Thailand and Laos and ASEAN as a group, Ranariddh said
\nafter talks in Manila with Philippine President Fidel Ramos.<\/p>\n
The prince also opposed the resumption of any Japanese aid
\nthat would go to the state budget of Hun Sen's government in
\nPhnom Penh, saying it would only fuel fighting in his country.<\/p>\n
He said government troops closing in on his last stronghold in
\nCambodia had suffered major losses.<\/p>\n
Ranariddh, ousted by Second Prime Minister Hun Sen in a bloody
\ntakeover last month, is on the fifth leg of a tour of ASEAN
\ncountries to seek support.<\/p>\n
In talks with Ramos, he called on ASEAN states to play an
\nactive role in ensuring free elections in Cambodia next year in
\nwhich he and his forces would be allowed to take part.<\/p>\n
\"If we do not put enough pressure on Mr Hun Sen, civil war
\nwill erupt,\" he said. \"Any instability in Cambodia, any fighting
\nin Cambodia will directly affect countries like Thailand, Vietnam
\nand Laos and ... ASEAN countries as a whole.\"<\/p>\n
Ranariddh arrived in Manila on Sunday while forces under Hun
\nSen were closing in on O'Smach, the last town held by the
\nroyalists, according to government military officials.<\/p>\n
But Ranariddh gave a different picture of the situation there,
\nsaying he talked with royalist commander Gen. Nhiek Bun Chhay 15
\nminutes before he left his hotel to meet Ramos.<\/p>\n
\"He just briefed me about the fighting and he told me that Mr
\nHun Sen's forces yesterday lost a lot of people,\" Ranariddh said.
\nRanariddh said ASEAN should make the holding of free elections a
\nprecondition for accepting Cambodia as a member.<\/p>\n
ASEAN -- which groups the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia,
\nSingapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam -- last
\nmonth postponed Cambodia's entry because of political turmoil in
\nPhnom Penh.<\/p>\n
A presidential palace statement said Ramos, in talks with
\nRanariddh, urged warring forces to observe a cease-fire and end
\nall acts of war. Ramos also reiterated ASEAN's position that all
\npolitical forces, including Ranariddh, should be allowed to take
\npart in next year's elections.<\/p>\n
Ranariddh said he wanted to go to Japan, Cambodia's largest
\nofficial aid donor, in view of what he said was Japan's plan to
\nresume aid to Cambodia but that he had received no reply from
\nTokyo.<\/p>\n
He welcomed aid for Cambodia's reconstruction but said \"any
\naid given to the state budget ... will fuel the civil war\".<\/p>\n
Ranariddh, who has been replaced as first prime minister by
\nForeign Minister Ung Huot, said he should be allowed safe return
\nto Cambodia \"in my capacity as elected prime minister\".<\/p>\n
Hun Sen has said that if Ranariddh returns he must face trial
\nfor what he calls illegal negotiations with the outlawed Khmer
\nRouge and for smuggling weapons.<\/p>\n
Asked when he planned to return to Cambodia and if he was
\nprepared to be arrested, Ranariddh said \"please, I am a
\nreasonable man. I am not a crazy man.\"<\/p>",
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