Kampuchea asks for urgent U.N. meeting as rebels advance

Press, 5 January 1979, Page 5

Kampuchea asks for urgent U.N. meeting as rebels advance

NZPA-Reuter Bangkok Kampuchean (Cambodian) rebels, said to be backed by Vietnamese warplanes, have claimed that their forces have moved to within 72km of Phnom Penh, and have seized three provincial capitals and attacked a fourth.

While the rebels were concentrating their attacks north-east of Phnom Penh, military analysts in Bangkok [ said Vietnamese Army units apparently were expanding I their frontier offensive south-east of the Kampuchean capital. They saidf there were reports that the Veitnames'e had launched a new drive in the Parrot’s Beak salient about 160 km [ south-east of Phnom Penh J and 64km south-west of Ho i Chi Minh City, formerly'l Saigon. Earlier, the Kampuchea 11 said Vietnamese MiG jets'! had bombed several of its I towns, including Neak) Luong, about 50km southeast of Phnom Penh, It said a hospital had been hit in Neak Luong district[i and many patients killed.! Many deaths and heavy J damage were also reported elsewhere. The strike at Neak Luong! was the closest to the Kam-j: puchean capital since the ; , border war started. h In New York, Kampucnea ;• formally asked the United!] Nations Security Council toil hold an urgent meeting, saving Vietnam was threatening!, peace, security, indepen-1 dence, and stability in J 1 South-East Asia and the! ! world. |j

A United Nations spokesman said a cable received on I ! Wednesday from Phnom j Penh asked for the meeting. ; The request was sent by the Kampuchean Deputy! Prime Minister (Mr lengl 'Sary) and it said a Kampuchean delegation would ar-! rive in New York next week! to enlighten the council and! 'participate in its work on! the matter. On Tuesday, Mr Sary! Jasked the council to condemn Vietnamese “aggression” and call for an end to incursions into Kampuchea.

In that message, Mr Sary also accused the Soviet Union of aiding the invasion of his country.

It was the first time Kampuchea had asked the United Nations to take up the -longfestering dispute between the Communist neighbours. The United Nations Secre-tary-General (Dr Kurt Waldheim) is due to tour the area this month to try to ease the tension and examine alleged human rights violations in Kampuchea. In Washington, the State Department has said that Vietnam's invasion of Kampuchea is unjustifiable, despite Kampuchea’s humanrights record.

“While the United States takes exception to the I human rights record of the 'Kampuchean regime, we do | not feel as a matter of prinIciple that unilateral interI vention by an outside power lis justified,” said a State Department spokesman. The Administration statelment put the United States lon the side favoured by [China, which is supporting [Kampuchea. The spokesman would not comment on whether the United ■ States had been in consultation with Peking about its stance.