Hun Sen warns SE Asian nations over entry deferral
Hun Sen warns SE Asian nations over entry deferral
PHNOM PENH (AFP): Cambodian leader Hun Sen sent a veiled warning to his Southeast Asian neighbors yesterday saying they had made a big mistake in rejecting his country's bid to join the group.
"I told them that the ball is at their feet," Hun Sen said, referring to the recent visit here of three foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"Whether (ASEAN) plays that ball or passes it to others to play (is your own decision)," he said in a Khmer-language interview with Radio France International also broadcast on Cambodian radio.
"We have to know whether ASEAN needs us or whether we need another," he said hinting that Phnom Penh may be forced to look beyond its immediate neighbors for support and investment.
ASEAN on Wednesday again rejected Cambodia's last-minute appeal for full membership amid the political uncertainty caused by Hun Sen's ouster of First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh earlier this month.
"ASEAN has made a big mistake," Hun Sen said yesterday, adding the group had not allowed enough time for the new political realities on the ground to take shape.
He later conceded the group had a role to play in restoring stability to Cambodia, but he warned against interference in its affairs.
"My idea is that we accept an ASEAN role for stability and peace for Cambodia, but (ASEAN) cannot (interfere) in the internal affairs of Cambodia, " he said after a weekly cabinet meeting.
"We need the role of ASEAN and now we can wait to join ASEAN. We are waiting for ASEAN to decide (to admit Cambodia) next time."
Diplomats and analysts have noted that since ASEAN first took the decision to freeze Cambodia's membership on July 10, Hun Sen has made several overtures to China including ordering the closure of Taiwan's representative office here and canceling a deal with a Taiwanese airline.
ASEAN is known to be concerned about Beijing's growing influence in its backyard and the "ASEAN 10" concept was initiated largely to protect against the possible overpowering of the region by China.
On Wednesday ASEAN admitted Myanmar and Laos into their group swelling their ranks to nine.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday after the opening of the annual ministerial meeting in Kuala Lumpur that Cambodia could be admitted by the end of the year.
"Well, it is possible," Mahathir told reporters when asked whether strife-torn Cambodia could join by the end of 1997.
Malaysia, chairperson of ASEAN for 1997, will host the summit meeting of group leaders in December and was anxious to ensure its earlier plan of an ASEAN-10 bore fruit by then, officials said.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts continued apace to resolve the crisis as U.S. special envoy Stephen Solarz held talks yesterday with Thai Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh in Bangkok.
Prince Ranariddh also met Solarz in Bangkok, after talks in Jakarta with Indonesian President Soeharto as part of his tour aimed at drumming up support to restore him to power.
"The U.S. wants to work very closely with Thailand and ASEAN in seeking a resolution to the Cambodian problem," Solarz told reporters after the meeting.
Prince Ranariddh has also called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to order a UN investigation into the torture and deaths of party cadres allegedly on the orders of Hun Sen.
In a letter to the UN chief released in New York, the prince urged Annan's special representative on human rights in Cambodia, Thomas Hammerberg, to "investigate the killings and torture in custody committed by the order of Samdech Hun Sen against FUNCINPEC cadres".
According to UN officials, up to 40 Cambodians in leadership positions of the coalition government have been reportedly killed, since the July 5-July 6 fighting.
The prince is also planning a trip to Beijing to visit his ailing father King Norodom Sihanouk, the king said in a statement.