Sihanouk supports ASEAN's peace efforts

Sihanouk supports ASEAN's peace efforts

BEIJING (Agencies): Three southeast Asian foreign ministers won support from Cambodia's King Sihanouk yesterday for their bid to seek ways to ease the crisis in Cambodia after a bloody coup this month.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, Thai Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasarn and Domingo Siazon of the Philippines met Sihanouk to discuss how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) could help Cambodia, Alatas said.

The three ministers were given a mandate by ASEAN to try to promote a negotiated settlement in Cambodia. They also explained the regional forum's decision last week to delay Phnom Penh's entry into ASEAN, the Indonesian foreign minister said in Beijing.

"We (sought) the advice of King Sihanouk, not just as the constitutional king but as the father of the nation, as to how ASEAN could possibly contribute to a solution," Alatas said.

"We came away from the meeting ... encouraged by his understanding and full support for our position," he said.

The ASEAN ministers stressed that Phnom Penh's eventual entry into the forum was not in doubt and that it remained an observer and would attend forthcoming meetings, he said.

"The king fully understood ASEAN's new position," Alatas said, but declined to give any details of the views expressed by Sihanouk, who has asked that the content of his meetings with foreign envoys be kept secret.

Alatas said the threat of Cambodian instability spreading had helped to prompt southeast Asian nations to take a positive role in trying to resolve the crisis as well as delaying Phnom Penh's ASEAN entry.

"If this situation is not quickly overcome we thought it might affect Cambodia assuming its rights and duties as a full member; it might also spill over and affect the stability of southeast Asia," he said but gave no details.

ASEAN decided last week to postpone Cambodia's scheduled admission to the regional grouping after the ouster of Prince Ranariddh.

Alatas said the decision was a temporary one, while Hun Sen said from Phnom Penh that he was hoping for a swift admission in "the coming days."

Sihanouk, who reigns but does not rule in Cambodia, has a palatial residence in Beijing, where he has been undergoing medical treatment.

The three foreign ministers also met their Chinese counterpart, Qian Qichen, and Alatas said Beijing's views accorded very much with those of ASEAN.

Qian did not make a statement, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Tang Guoqiang repeated China's support, with a proviso against excessive outside interference.

Alatas said it was too early to comment on ASEAN's plans because he and his companions had yet to meet the other main players in the Cambodian crisis.

The three foreign ministers were scheduled to meet deposed Cambodian First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh in Bangkok today, before flying to Phnom Penh to see the prince's rival, Second Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Hun Sen ousted Ranariddh, who is Sihanouk's son, on July 6 after a weekend of fighting in the Cambodian capital.

King Sihanouk on Tuesday sent a letter to acting head of state Chea Sim in Phnom Penh, calling for an end to murder and bloodshed in the conflict between the rival prime ministers.

In Phnom Penh, a diplomatic source said that as many as 40 Cambodians had been killed since the coup, but it was not clear if the killings were part of a planned purge.

Sihanouk said in his letter he was distressed by the reports of torture and killings and urged that those detained or arrested as enemies of the state be treated in line with the law and in accordance with relevant international treaties.

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