By Norm Dixon
Fierce artillery duels have resumed inside Cambodia following the failure of three days of talks in Jakarta that ended on June 4. As in all previous discussions between the Hun Sen government and the three resistance parties, the Khmer Rouge — the killers of millions during their reign of terror in the late '70s — frustrated progress towards peace.
The aim of the Jakarta meeting, co-chaired by Indonesia and France, was to discuss amendments to the UN Permanent Five peace plan. The plan in its present form is seen by many — including by increasing numbers of senior decision makers in European governments, the US Congress and, according to recently leaked documents, the Australian Foreign Affairs Department — as being too favourable to the Khmer Rouge.
The Khmer Rouge's unwillingness to negotiate was plain from the beginning. Before the meeting, it demanded that the Hun Sen government accept the UN plan without amendment and also vowed to end its compliance with a May 1 cease-fire immediately if the talks broke down.
Despite the Khmer Rouge's intransigence, some progress was made with the other resistance coalition leaders, Prince Norodom Sihanouk and Son Sann.
Hun Sen and Sihanouk agreed on a formula to allow the Supreme National Council to meet. The two leaders approved a proposal that Sihanouk become SNC chairperson and Hun Sen vice-chairperson, with both the current government and the resistance coalition being represented by six ordinary members. They also agreed to extend the cease-fire and not accept any more outside military assistance. Son Sann later approved these decisions.
However, the Khmer Rouge immediately vetoed the Hun Sen-Sihanouk proposition. Pol Pot's murderous gang will not agree to anything that stands in the way of its return to power.
The only force in Cambodia able to prevent that happening is the Hun Sen government. The sooner the world recognises that fact, the sooner the misery of the Cambodian people will end.