Hanoi Minister threatens pursuit into Thailand

Press, 21 July 1982, Page 9

Hanoi Minister threatens pursuit into Thailand

NZPA-Reuter Singapore'

The Vietnamese Foreign Minister (Mr Nguyen Co Thach) yesterday held out the possibility of an attack on Peking-backed Khmer Rouge guerrilla sanctuaries along the Thai border. Speaking to foreign reporters, Mr Thach accused Thailand and its partners in the Association of South-east Asian Nations of hostile activities against Indo-China for the last few years. Mr Thach, who' arrived in Singapore on Sunday at the start of a regional tour, asserted that A.S.E.A.N.’s support for the formation of a coalition of Kampuchean resistance forces was interference in the internal affairs of the Indo-China States.

"It would set a bad precedent. The Indo-Chinese States have been pursuing a policy of reconciliation and dialogue for peace and stability in South-east Asia," he said.

"We have never done such hostile activities against them (A.S.E.A.N.)i But if

these hostile activities are destroying us we must react. We have no option. We can choose to give back to them." Mr Thach warned Thailand. which shares a frontier with Kampuchea, against harbouring Khmer Rouge guerrillas who form the bulk of the fighting forces of the coalition, officially set up earlier this month. The extremist Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot, ruled Kampuchea for nearly four years until overthrown by a Vietnamese-led invasion in January. 1979.

"We have not yet crossed the border in hot pursuit of the Pol Pot group. We have abstained up to now.. But patience has its limit, not without limit," he said. Mr Thach denied that Vietnam had plans to start a parallel insurgent movement to that of Peking-backed guerrillas in the region if A.S.E.A.N. countries did not change their attitude on Kampuchea.

But he did not rule out such a possibility. There were many options open to Hanoi to retaliate, he said.

"We will judge and choose." Singapore's Foreign Minister (Mr Sappiah Dhanabalan) who met Mr Thach for four hours on Monday, said that Mr Thach had threatened to export guerrilla revolution to A.S.E.A.N. countries. Mr Thach said that Hanoi wanted A.S.E.A.N. to respect its concern about what he described as "the Chinese threat" before demanding a total withdrawal of Vietnamese forces in Kampuchea. Hanoi would agree to total withdrawal only after China signed a non-aggres-sion treaty with the IndoChinese States of Vietnam. Laos, and Kampuchea, and ceased all hostile activities against them.

A.S.E.A.N., which groups Singapore, Malaysia. Thailand. Indonesia, and the Philippines, has called for an immediate withdrawal of all Vietnamese troops, followed by United Nations-supervised elections in Kampuchea. Mr Thach confirmed that Vietnam had started the pull-out of "a significant number" of forces from Kampuchea.