Mr Kirk hopes for peace settlement

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33213, 1 May 1973, Page 2

Mr Kirk hopes for peace settlement

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 30. The only way peace could be restored in Cambodia was by a negotiated settlement, the Prime Minister (Mr Kirk) said today.

“It is a matter of urgency that such a settlement be reached in the near future,” he said in a letter to the Auckland Committee on Vietnam.

plies. This provision of the agreement has not been carried out.

settled by negotiation and agreement. “We do not see how a negotiated settlement can be reached in Cambodia while both sides continue to rely on force as a means of achieving their goals.” Mr Kirk said that the Vietnam peace agreement was signed by North Vietnam and the United States, and both had solemnly undertaken to cease their interventions in Cambodia.

"North Vietnam has not withdrawn its troops from Cambodia, and it is still sending arms and other supplies into the country. "The United States has also resumed its air operations against the insurgents,” Mr Kirk said.

The committee had asked for a statement of the Government’s view on the situation in Cambodia, and Mr Kirk today released the text of his reply. Mr Kirk said that like the committee the Government saw the situation in Cambodia as part of the wider problem of Indo-China.

The New Zealand Government was opposed to bombing. It was also opposed to shelling, shooting, and other ways of killing. “It is in fact opposed to the use of force,” he said. “We believe that disputes, Whether international or internal,can only be properly

“Neither of them is at present doing so,” he said. “I profoundly hope that both will, in the near future, honour their commitments and thus create the conditions for a negotiated settlement in Cambodia.”

“I have said frequently that we think the war there has gone on for too long, and it is high time the killing ended,” he said. Cambodia was the only one of the three countries in Indo-China for which no peace agreement had been negotiated. “About the time the agreement for Vietnam was signed, the Government in Phnom Penh unilaterally declared a cessation of hostilities, and at the same time asked the United States to stop its air operations in Cambodia,” he said. "There was no positive response from the antiGovernment forces. They stepped up their campaign to take the country by force, and they are still pursuing it.

"It is true that the peace agreement for Vietnam contained some provisions relating to Cambodia,” Mr Kirk said.

“They call for all foreign countries to stop their military activities, to withdraw their troops, and to refrain from sending in men and sup-