King Sihanouk prays for peace

King Sihanouk prays for peace

SIEM REAP, Cambodia (Agencies): Cambodia's King Norodom
Sihanouk took part in Buddhist prayers for peace yesterday as
sporadic shelling continued around the contested northwestern
border town of O'Smach.

Sihanouk, who offered to mediate between his ousted son,
Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and the prince's former co-premier, Hun
Sen, said he wished Cambodia could be peaceful and united.

"The ceremony is to wish that our nation and people stop
fighting," Sihanouk said as he entered a historic royal temple
opposite his villa in the center of Siem Reap.

"It is to let our nation enjoy unity again, as during Angkor
rule," he said, referring to the 12th century Cambodian empire
that had its capital at the nearby Angkor temple complex.

The king released nine turtles in a Buddhist merit-making
ritual and said he hoped the Cambodian people could also find
freedom and peace.

Despite the king's repeated pleas for peace, fighting
continued in Cambodia's northwest yesterday.

Government forces under Hun Sen attacking O'Smach fired
intermittent shells at royalist troops loyal to Ranariddh, and
their Khmer Rouge guerrilla allies dug in on high ground up
against the Thai border, Thai army officers monitoring the
fighting in Cambodia said.

One Thai soldier was wounded by a stray bullet fired from
inside Cambodia yesterday and Thai forces were on alert to
prevent any spillover of fighting onto Thai soil, they said.

Meanwhile, the Phnom Penh government advisers said yesterday
Hun Sen had rejected a call by King Norodom Sihanouk to meet
representatives of resistance forces to put a halt to isolated
fighting.

The high-level advisers said Hun Sen would try to arrange a
meeting with King Sihanouk to discuss the plight of the troubled
nation, but resistance figures loyal to deposed Ranariddh will
not attend.

"Hun Sen's stance is still remaining firm and strong," one
close adviser said. "Hun Sen will not agree to informal talks
with Prince Ranariddh or his supporters under a mediation of the
king."

Sihanouk returned to Cambodia last Friday after months in
Beijing, where he was receiving medical treatment.

The king announced Sunday his desire for an end to armed
hostilities after repeated calls from ASEAN leaders for a cease-
fire as the first step to restoring peace and democratic rule in
Cambodia.

After the prayers for peace, Sihanouk said "it's up to him. If
he does not accept mediation from me it's okay."

"If His Excellency Hun Sen rejects my proposal, so I have no
other idea, you know, to help," he said. "I'm hoping and making
prayers."

Second Prime Minister Hun Sen overthrew Ranariddh, his senior
co-premier, in early July. After defeating the royalist forces in
Phnom Penh, government troops under Hun Sen moved against
Ranariddh loyalists in the northwest.

"I don't see Hun Sen compromising with Ranariddh," Cambodian
scholar Raoul Jennar told Reuters. "He's clear, he refuses to
meet Ranariddh. I don't see him changing his mind."

Another political analyst said Hun Sen would have to be
careful in dealing with the highly respected monarch or risk
upsetting members of his own political party.

Khmer Rouge political leader Khieu Samphan said yesterday he
and his National Solidarity Party supported Sihanouk's efforts to
promote peace in Cambodia.