Khmer Rouge leaders to quit, shy paper

Press, 3 February 1981, Page 8

Khmer Rouge leaders to quit, shy paper

NZPA - Bangkok The leaders of Kampuchea’s ousted Khmer Rouge regime will step down as part of a new move to create an anti-Vietnamese united front, the “Bangkok Post” newspaper has reported. In a report with wide-ran-ging regional implications, the paper said the former Kampuchean Prime Minister, Son Sann, leader of the largest non-Communist resistance group, had apparently agreed to replace Khieu Samphan as Head of State in the fallen regime. The former Khmer Rouge Prime Minister, Pol Pot, and his Foreign Minister, leng Sary had also agreed to step down from office and all three “may'exile themselves to China,” the paper; said, quoting informed sources.. Although there was no immediate confirmation from any of the parties mentioned, Western diplomats attached considerable significance to the report, which bore the marks of Thai Government approval. The report came one day after the visiting Chinese Prime Minister (Mr. Zhao Ziyarig) told a news conference that China, : the main military backer of, the Khmer Rouge, supported all efforts to unite- -the -resistance groups in KampucheaKhmer Rouge guerrillas, estimated’ to number .30,000, have been the only /significant fighting force opposing' Vietnam’s two-year-old occupation of, Kampuchea. ' But their efforts -have been hindered on the diplomatic level by international repugnance for the -. lead-

ership, widely accused of the worst atrocities since Hitler during their brutal four-year rule which began in 1975. The “Bangkok Post” said that Son Sann, leader of the Khmer People’s National Liberation. Front, would serve as both Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in a bid to halt any headway toward gaining international recognition of its handpicked client Government-in Phnom Penh.:. . ■ ... . He would - travel abroad arid speaks at the United Nations General Assembly m the name of. Democratic Kampuchea, - .the.. . official name of the ousted Khmer Rouge regime, the paper said. , „ • It , said other Khmer Rouge figures whose names were not directly associated with the ultra-radical policies of Pol Pot would retain control of the guerrilla army under Son Sann’s. authority. To date, Son'-Sann, a bes-

pectacled 70-year-old, has systematically rejected any formal link with the Khmer Rouge on the ground that it would hurt his credibility with the Kampuchean people, who are widely reported to fear a return of Pol Pot more than the yoke of Hanoi. The former Khmer Rouge Prime Minister, Khieu Samphan, has publicly rejected any thought of stepping down, telling journalists last month that it was an unworkable proposition. “An army that fights without pay needs correct leadership. The point is the ability to drive out the Vietnamese. That is- an unchangeable position. We are > leading the struggle, not • clinging to power,” he was : quoted as saying. The “Bangkok Post” made 1 no mention of a role for forJ mer Prince Norodom Siha--1 nouk, who, like Son Sann, 1 has repeatedly rejected efr forts by China and the West i to get'him to lead a united ' fr° nt - ■ . ~ 1 But the report, by the 1 paper’s editor-in-chief, Theh i Chongkhadikij, who often reflects. official Thai thinking, 1 said the idea of transferring 1 the mantle ,to Son Sann had i the backing of the Associ- : atibn of South-East Asian 1 Nations — Thailand, Singr apore, Malaysia,. Indonesia - and the Philippines. Western diplomats . said i the report appeared to be 5 more- than just a trial bali loon, because the discussed ! change had been under press I scrutiny for,months. A statement from Son Sann’s entourage was. ex- -’ pected shortly.