Puzzling Invasion Of Cambodia

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32265, 7 April 1970, Page 12

Puzzling Invasion Of Cambodia

(By FRED EMERY of f, The Times/* through N.Z.P.A.) PHNOM PENH, April 6. The Cambodian Government has denounced as “grave” what it termed an overwhelming attack on Tuesday by large North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces on a Cambodian Army detachment near Snoul, some 110 miles northeast of Phnom Penh. Cambodian forces, accordto a communique, “suffered losses,” but the communique concluded that at last report the “encircled detachment” had been able to break out and return to its base. This somewhat puzzling conclusion contrasted with the opening statement that the Communist forces “were estimated several thousand strong and well armed” and had “overwhelmed” the Cambodian detachment some five miles from the frontier with Vietnam. However, the communique said that the Government had ordered regional commands to take necessary steps to face up to this "grave event," warning the people to beware of the great peril facing the country from “Vietnamese ex pansionists.” The exact scale of these re ported attacks and Communist incursions is difficult to pin down independently; mosl communiques contain at once news that an alarmist can blow out of al! proportion, as well as items that show whatever the movement of people involved the results were really infinitesimal.

I was so recently with “columns” of Communist troops, which even in the official communique ended up “arresting” two Cambodian soldiers, one of whom later got away. Naturally the Government wants maximum publicity for what are undoubtedly Communist incursions, but it seems at a loss how to interpret them satisfactorily. One thing is clear: probes, movements of Communist troops and Isolated attacks are, according to Cambodian officers in the field, taking place much deeper in Cam-

bodian territory than has been the case before. The tanks and armoured cars seen being moved smartly around Phnom Penh may look impressive, but it cannot perhaps be too much emphasised that despite some of the lan guage used by the Government, this is not a Second World War scene. Whatever is happening is taking place well out of sight of the main roads. Phnom Penh itself con tinues to present a tranquil face—in spite of the continu ing embarkation into Army

trucks of cheering recruits, the laying of sandbags al police stations, and the ap pearance at some key points of tanks in place of armoured cars. Yet the calm deceives. The capital has, after all, high pro portions of both ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese. The Vietnamese especiallj are keeping their heads down Most of them are Cambodia? citizens, but there were reck oned to be some 5000 Viet namese nationals in the capital before the troubles, and Vietnamese say hundreds ol

them are moving out clande stinely to Vietnam. Among the few reports tei come in from the countryside on Wednesday were attacks, reported in the official press agency, on "loyal Personalities” in several unspecified provinces. Mr M. Rifes, the American Charge d’Affaires in Phnom Penh, was on Wednesday permitted to meet Captain Donald Swann, master of the munitions ship Columbia Eagle which was hijacked into Cambodian waters over two weeks ago.