ASEAN wants UN to keep Cambodian truce

ASEAN wants UN to keep Cambodian truce

MANILA (Agencies): The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) urged the United Nations yesterday to oversee Cambodia's fragile cease-fire.

Both the government forces of Hun Sen and fighters loyal to deposed co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh declared a cease-fire on Feb. 28.

"The cease-fire, which is holding now, should be...through the facilitation of the United Nations Secretary General's good office, through his representative office in Phnom Penh," Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan told reporters.

Surin was speaking after talks with his Indonesian and Philippine counterparts, who are leading ASEAN efforts to try to resolve the bitter Cambodian dispute and ensure a planned July 26 general election goes ahead.

The government of strongman Hun Sen said on Thursday that the opposition had violated the truce eight times over the last week and that two government soldiers were wounded in clashes.

"We took into account the possibility of the United Nations also playing a role in ensuring that the two unilateral declarations of cease-fire may continue," Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon told reporters.

Siazon met with senior diplomats of fellow ASEAN members Indonesia and Thailand here to review the progress of the organization's efforts to ensure free, fair and credible elections in troubled would-be member Phnom Penh.

He praised the unilateral cease-fire declarations of the forces of Ranariddh and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen, who ousted Ranariddh in bloody street battles in Phnom Penh last July.

The ASEAN troika had called for the participation of Ranariddh in the polls.

"The troika believes that it would be useful for the UN to play a role in that," he said, referring to the cease-fire monitoring.

"We have asked the Friends of Cambodia to consider requesting together with us, the Secretary General and authorize him or the UN office in Cambodia to play a role in the implementation of the cease-fire," he added.

The Friends of Cambodia groups the United States, Japan and other Western powers. Senior officials met with their ASEAN counterparts here yesterday to discuss international aid to the Cambodian elections.