Washington wants peaceful solution to Cambodian crisis

Washington wants peaceful solution to Cambodian crisis

PHNOM PENH: (Agencies): The United States called yesterday for
a peaceful solution to the Cambodian crisis, to allow supporters
of the country's ousted first premier to return home ahead of
elections next year.

U.S. special envoy to Cambodia Stephen Solarz made the call
after three hours of talks with the country's strong-arm Second
Prime Minister Hun Sen aimed at finding ways of resolving the
turmoil gripping the country.

"I have just had a very frank and, in some respects very
constructive discussions, with the second prime minister," he
told reporters after emerging from the meeting in the Cambodian
capital.

"I would hope the kind of dialog and discussions that I had
with the second prime minister this morning can be extended to
include all of the relevant and interested parties to the
situation in Cambodia.

"If that can happen, it would make a positive contribution to
the resolution of the problem," he said.

A Hun Sen spokesman said the talks had been "cordial" and that
the two sides had agreed on three main principles:

-- respect for the 1991 Paris peace accords and the results of
the 1993 UN-brokered election,

-- allowing exiled members of parliament and politicians to
return to Cambodia, and

-- holding free and fair elections as scheduled next May.

"They agreed in principle," said Prak Sokhon, adding that
Solarz had said nothing about U.S. aid for Cambodia which was
temporarily suspended after Hun Sen effectively ousted First
Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh after a weekend of bloody
street fighting in Phnom Penh.

The prince left the country on the eve of his ouster and many
members of his royalist party and sympathizers fled in the
aftermath of the takeover.

In his talks with Solarz, Hun Sen repeated that Ranariddh
could return but he must face trial for his alleged crimes if he
came back, a Hun Sen aide said.

Prak Sokhonn said Solarz and Hun Sen had agreed that exiled
politicians should be able to return, that Cambodia's next
elections should be held on May 23 as planned and the poll should
be free and fair.

Solarz, in an apparent reference to proposed mediation efforts
by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), said he
hoped other parties could get involved in dialog on Cambodia.

"I hope the constructive dialog and discussion that I had with
the second prime minister can be extended to include all of the
relevant and interested parties," Solarz said.

ASEAN delayed Cambodia's entry into the regional grouping
after Hun Sen overthrew Ranariddh. ASEAN said it wanted to help
negotiate peace in Cambodia.

But earlier yesterday Hun Sen said the only role ASEAN could
play in his country's crisis was to prevent foreign interference.
In a statement issued by his office ahead of the meeting with
Solarz, Hun Sen said his earlier comments about mediation had
been misinterpreted.

"The internal problems of Cambodia must be solved by Cambodia
itself," the statement said.

Yesterday, Solarz indicated the United States might support a
replacement for Ranariddh if the new first prime minister was
chosen in an appropriate manner by the National Assembly, Prak
Sokhonn said.

In a related development, Ranariddh arrived in Beijing
yesterday for a planned meeting with his father, King Sihanouk,
who has denied any link between the visit and the current crisis
in Cambodia.