Mourning doesn't get in way of attacks

Prime Minister Hun Sen shrouded himself in mourning for his dead mother, but his regime last Wednesday blasted Washington for not heeding US Ambassador Kenneth Quinn's embassy reports about this warring nation.

Amid the latest twists, fresh allegations were hurled against Hun Sen's rival, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, for links to Khmer Rouge guerrillas who protect Pol Pot.

Hun Sen's close adviser, Prak Sokun, said in an interview that the regime is unhappy about Washington's distorted view of Cambodia.

Asked if US Ambassador Quinn was providing correct reports back to Washington about the situation in Cambodia, Prak Sokun replied: "I think so. The US embassy here gave a very accurate image of Cambodia, but Washington doesn't listen enough to the embassy here.

"There is some pressure in the US Congress that is very conservative, who don't listen.

"I know why they don't listen to the US embassy. It is because they have preconceptions of what is happening in Cambodia, so they don't want to change their mind about Cambodia. So whatever we do, they still keep their preconceptions.

"I think there are people in Washington who still consider Hun Sen as a communist, as a former Khmer Rouge, and a puppet of Vietnam, and this is not correct."

Hun Sen gained that reputation because he worked his way up to become a regimental commander of the communist Khmer Rouge guerrillas under Pol Pot.

Hun Sen defected from Pol Pot in 1977 by crossing into Vietnam. When Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia and toppled Pol Pot in 1978, they installed Hun Sen as foreign minister and then promoted him to prime minister during their 10-year-long occupation.

Prak Sokun, however, stressed: "Hun Sen is not a dictator. Hun Sen is not a communist. He is not like some people who call him a bad man, or a brutal person."

When asked in an interview what the US embassy was reporting about Cambodia, an embassy spokesman replied: "Obviously, I can't go into what is in our cables. Certainly, no one in the Cambodian government has been briefed, ever, on what is the nature of our reports.

"The embassy is proud of its record on reporting. Each year, the US government presents special awards to those organisations which do the most exceptional and accurate reporting on the situations they cover. The US embassy in Phnom Penh has won this award for the last two years in a row. It is the only embassy worldwide to have done so.

"The embassy has always reported as honestly, and accurately, as possible. All of its cables and reports have been made available to the US Congress. There are some examples of the embassy reporting, such as the human rights report, which is available for anyone to scrutinise," said the spokesman.

Hun Sen's adviser, Prak Sokun, when asked if President Clinton and other officials in Washington had a true picture of current events in Cambodia, replied: "I think at some level, yes, but they also have a lack of understanding about the real situation in Cambodia.

"It is as if there are two Cambodias. The real one is that in Cambodia, the people enjoy every kind of freedom.

"And the other is the one that some western media paint, a very black image of Cambodia, and they say there is no freedom here, and Hun Sen is described as a dictator where people are scared and intimidated.

"But that is not the real truth. People enjoy freedom. The Cambodian government is going forward to hold free and fair elections."

United Nations human rights officials, Prince Ranariddh's supporters and others have said that Hun Sen is systematically crushing dissent, and the government is murdering - "with impunity" - many of its opponents one by one.

They insist that by the time any election is held, Cambodia's voters, media, and political leaders will be so "intimidated" that Hun Sen will waltz to victory at the polls.

Prince Ranariddh, meanwhile, still faces several demands if he wants to be a candidate in the election.

"Some people describe these as possible obstacles," said Prak Sokun. "But the Political Party Law, Article Six, clearly states that a political party should not have its own army, and should not have its own autonomous zone."

Prince Ranariddh's supporters have been fighting for the past several months against Hun Sen's military in northern Cambodia.

Referring to the prince's political party, known by the acronym Funcinpec, Prak Sokun said: "Funcinpec have their own army and their own autonomous zone, even if they say their army is part of the (government's) Royal Army of Cambodia.

"If it is, why don't they give back their forces to the Royal Army?"

The prince's forces have held onto a sliver of territory near the Thai border, and have reportedly fought in alliance with Khmer Rouge guerrillas who enjoy strongholds there.

The Khmer Rouge in that region, in and around Anlong Veng, are led by one-legged Ta Mok, who recently mutinied against Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot and placed him under house arrest.

Ta Mok refused demands to turn Pol Pot over to the government, or allow him to be put on trial for crimes against humanity, or genocide, which date back to Pol Pot's reign over Cambodia from 1975 to 1978.

Up to two million Cambodians perished under Pol Pot's back-to-the-jungle, failed communist regime.

Ta Mok apparently is protecting Pol Pot from trial because Ta Mok would also be indicted for his senior role alongside Pol Pot in the alleged atrocities.

Today, Hun Sen's military offensive to occupy Anlong Veng is said to have caused Ta Mok, Pol Pot and other top Khmer Rouge leaders to flee into the jungle-clad Dangrek mountains.

"The prince must cut all cooperation and links with the Khmer Rouge, and return all his forces to the Royal Armed Forces. If the prince clears himself, he will have no problem," said Prak Sokun.

Last Tuesday, Prince Ranariddh declared: "I have been asked to cut my links with the Khmer Rouge. But I cannot cut any link which I do not have."

The prince invited foreign governments to send observers to verify his denial, and "to investigate if I have any link with the Khmer Rouge".

Prak Sokun, however, dismissed Prince Ranariddh's claim, saying: "The prince has made an alliance with the Khmer Rouge.

"So he has to clarify, since when did he cut his links?"

Meanwhile, the death in March of Hun Sen's 78-year-old mother, Di Pok, has resulted in a one-month official mourning period.

"Hun Sen is in mourning and has canceled all official meetings until the end of April," said Prak Sokun.

The official obituary of Hun Sen's mother said she had been healthy, but died because she was frightened by tank battles which rocked the capital in July, when Hun Sen and Prince Ranariddh fought for control of Cambodia.

The obituary added: "Her terror at the shelling of the extremists, and the Khmer Rouge in the capital, was the cause of her death."

Those clashes on July 5 and 6 left more than 40 people dead - most of them Prince Ranariddh supporters - and resulted in the prince's conviction on charges of smuggling weapons into the capital and conspiring with Khmer Rouge guerrillas to seize power.

After nine months as an international fugitive, Prince Ranariddh received a pardon and returned to Phnom Penh last Monday to start campaigning for election, in a poll tentatively scheduled for July 26.

Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen were co-prime ministers before the fighting, but Hun Sen replaced him with Ung Huot who eagerly defected from the prince in exchange for the post.

* Richard S. Ehrlich is a former UPI correspondent who has reported from Asia for the past 20 years.