Hayden trip

Press, 30 June 1983, Page 11

Hayden trip

NZPA Bangkok The Australian Foreign Minister, Mr Bill Hayden, flew to Hanoi yesterday to sound out Vietnamese leaders on prospects for settling the Kampuchean issue. Mr Hayden’s trip to Hanoi came after two days of talks with counterparts from the Association of South-East Asian Nations — Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia — and their dialogue partners, the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the European Economic Community. Mr Hayden’s trip is the latest in a series of diplomatic shuttles trying to break new ground in the impasse over Kampuchea, the focus of the high-level meetings in Bangkok during the last week. The chairman of the United Nations Committee of the International Confer-

ence of Kampuchea arrived at Bangkok on Tuesday to meet the Thai Foreign Minister, Air Chief Marshal Siddhi Savetsila, as well as receive a briefing from military leaders on the situation. Rafeeudin Ahmed, a special envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General, flew back to Hanoi on Monday after observing the annual A.S.E.A.N. Ministerial session before flying on to Peking for talks with Chinese leaders. Mr Hayden expressed doubt about what his trip may accomplish concerning solutions in Kampuchea. He said that his goal would be to explore common ground between Vietnam and A.S.E.A.N. that could pave the way to a settlement. He will return to Bangkok on Saturday and will brief A. R. Marshal Siddhi on the results of his Vietnamese talks.