Vietnam faces tough job over Cambodia

Vietnam faces tough job over Cambodia

By Serguei Blagov

HANOI (DPA): Vietnam is anxious to avoid a semblance of
involvement in the current Cambodian struggles but Hanoi's muted
support for Hun Sen fuels rather than helps dismiss speculation,
say analysts.

Vietnam really needs to do something now in order not to be
viewed by the outside world as, once again, being involved in
Cambodia, said a Hanoi-based diplomat.

Obviously this is a tricky task bearing in mind that
Cambodia's strongman Hun Sen returned from Vietnam on July 4 and
the very next morning ousted his co-premier from power, the
diplomat said.

Vietnamese officials insist that Hun Sen's controversial visit
to Vietnam in early July was a vacation which just happened to
coincide with the subsequent crisis in Cambodia. Hun Sen was also
rumored to have been merely visiting his Vietnamese girlfriend in
the seaside resort of Vung Tau, 120 kilometers east of Ho Chi
Minh City.

Vietnam's foreign ministry confirmed that Hun Sen took a brief
rest in Vietnam earlier this month but insisted that the
Cambodian strongman did not have contact with any of the
Vietnamese leaders.

It is very difficult to believe that Hun Sen failed to warn
his Vietnamese hosts about his intentions, said one veteran
observer. Hun Sen, who was appointed Foreign Minister in 1979 and
Prime Minister in 1985, made an excellent career within the
government installed by Vietnam in Cambodia. It is unlikely that
the issue was not discussed during Hun Sen's stay in Vietnam, the
observer said.

Vietnam's foreign ministry spokesman referred to "blatant
slander" in a statement last week responding to allegations by
Khmer Rouge clandestine radio which claimed Hun Sen visited
Vietnam in early July to prepare the coup d'etat.

Hun Sen, leader of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), has
been labeled by his political opponents as "Vietnam's pawn". In
the early 1990s Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge defector, led the
Vietnam-supported government, dominated by the CPP.

Vietnam officially urges the Cambodian warring parties to
exercise restraint and settle their differences peacefully, but
describes the violence as the country's internal affair.

Vietnam wanted to see stability in Cambodia, Vu Khoan was
quoted as saying by the Vietnamese press Monday. The statement is
seen by the analysts as another sign of muted support to Hun
Sen's claims to restore law and order in Cambodia.

Vietnamese officials privately are willing to discuss
different scenarios for Cambodia, including the return of
Ranarridh to Phnom Penh as first Prime Minister, said a European
diplomat. However, it is clear that they would prefer Hun Sen to
remain in power, he said.

Cambodia's ousted first Prime Minister Norodom Ranarridh in
recent years was repeatedly lashing out at Vietnam and therefore
won few friends in Hanoi. In early 1996 Prince Ranarridh claimed
Vietnam "invaded" the eastern provinces of Svay Rieng, Prey Veng
and Kampong Cham, and said Vietnamese settlers, backed by troops,
had encroached on Cambodian territory.

The unexpected visit to China of Vietnam Communist Party
General Secretary Do Muoi July 14-18 also fuelled speculation
that the Cambodian issue was on the agenda.

Following the 1978 Vietnamese takeover of Cambodia -- where
Hanoi's troops ousted the Beijing-supported Khmer Rouge -- China
launched a limited invasion of Vietnam's northern border in
February 1979 to 'teach a lesson' to Hanoi.

Apart from the border war with China, Hanoi's takeover of
Cambodia turned Vietnam into virtually pariah state, isolated it
internationally and virtually deprived it of Western lending and
aid.

Vietnam now is balancing on a very tight rope, said a diplomat
in Hanoi. The alleged involvement in Cambodia's affairs could be
a very dangerous gamble for Hanoi, since Vietnam regional and
international standings, notably the current normalization with
the U.S., could be affected, he said.