Signs of progress towards settlement of Campuchean conflict seen; international conference adopts plan to solve Indochinese refugee problem.

Signs of progress towards settlement of Kampuchean conflict seen

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar on 13 June said that there were "encouraging signs of progress" towards a settlement of the Kampuchean conflict.

In a statement opening the International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees in Geneva, he observed that the ongoing diplomatic process on the various aspects of the problem, as well as the announcement by Viet Nam of its decision to completely withdraw its troops from Kampuchea by the end of September 1989, provided a basis for hope. He offered whatever assistance parties might require to facilitate the formulation and implementation of a solution.

The Secretary-General in June also consulted with high officials of Viet Nam, the United States, France, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. Among other things, they discussed France's decision to host in Paris in August an international conference, with all parties attending.

Viet Nam withdrawal

Viet Nam, in a 5 April Joint Declaration with the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the "People's Republic of Kampuchea" (A/44/214-S/20572), stated it would withdraw all its forces from Kampuchea by the end of September 1989, by which time foreign interference in Kampuchea's internal affairs and all foreign military aid to all Kampuchean parties must cease.

The Declaration stated that participants in two Jakarta Informal Meetings (JIMs) had reached a basic agreement on the substance of a settlement of the Kampuchean question in its international aspect. The withdrawal of Vietnamese forces from Kampuchea was closely linked with the prevention of the return of the "genocidal Pol Pot regime", the cessation of foreign interference and foreign military aid to all Kampuchean parties, the prevention of civil war, the setting up of an effective international control mechanism for implementing those provisions, and the convening of an international conference.

The International Control and Supervision Commission for the implementation of the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Cambodia--made up of India, Poland and Canada--should monitor Vietnamese withdrawal and cessation of foreign military aid to the Kampuchean parties, the Declaration stated.

A personal representative of Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and the Chairman of the JIM could participate in that process, it was stated.

If, however, after total withdrawal, foreign countries did not completely end military aid to the Kampuchean parties, especially the "Pol Pot clique", and cease all interference, the "People's Republic of Kampuchea" would call on other countries to give assistance to the Kampucheans to defend themselves.

The international conference, according to the Declaration, would guarantee Kampuchea's independence, neutrality and non-alignment, as well as agreements reached at it. Parties participating in the two JIMs had also agreed to respect the principle whereby Kampuchea's internal problems must be settled by the Kampuchean parties themselves, without outside interference and intervention.

Announcement

welcomed

In Beijing on 6 April, Prince Norodom Sihanouk welcomed the announcement, but called for UN supervision of any Vietnamese withdrawal and declared that Hanoi did not have the right to choose who would have responsibility for monitoring the withdrawal process. The Prince is presently the President of Democratic Kampuchea and leader of the "Cambodian National Resistance" (CNR).

Also on 6 April, Khieu Samphan, Vice-President of Democratic Kampuchea in charge of Foreign Affairs, asked the world community to accept the formation of a "provisional quadripartite government" under Prince Sihanouk's leadership, and the five-point peace plan of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea.

On 28 April, in a joint statement (A/44/263-S/20613), the three CNR leaders--Prince Sihanouk, Son Sann and Khieu Samphan--said the resistance would not consider the Vietnamese military occupation of Kampuchea ended unless troop withdrawals were supervised by the UN, and if Vietnamese military personnel, militiamen and civilians stayed in the country. They demanded the departure of "all illegal Vietnamese immigrants" to Viet Nam.

Following an extraordinary meeting in Bangkok on 5 May, the Council of Ministers of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea said in a communique that it supported Prince Sihanouk's proposal that a round-table meeting of the four Kampuchean parties, under the chairmanship of the Prince, and an international conference on Kampuchea be held in Paris later in 1989 to seek a comprehensive political solution to the conflict in Kampuchea on the basis of the Prince's five-point peace plan.

The Council of Ministers stated that a just and durable political solution to the conflict should secure the withdrawal of all Vietnamese "occupying forces" under effective internaional verification and control; the formation of a provisional quadripartite government under Prince Sihanouk that would organize free and general elections under strict international supervision; and the deployment of an international peace-keeping force in Kampuchea.