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Ieng Sary's troops to sit out armed
Subject: Ieng Sary's troops to sit out armed struggle
The Nation July 10th
Ieng Sary's troops to sit out armed struggle
FORCES loyal to defected Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary will remain
neutral in the fighting between the forces of ousted First Prime
Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lt
Gen Sok Pheap said yesterday.
He said that both the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and Funcinpec had
asked for his support but he refused to take sides. Also, his leader,
Ieng Sary, and Pailin Governor Ei Chien had told him not to get
involved.
''But if anyone attacks us, we will have to fight back in order to
protect our base," said Sok Pheap, who commands the 93rd operations base
in Phnom Malai district opposite Aranyaprathet in Thailand's Sa Kaew
province.
Last year, about 10,000 Khmer Rouge cadres followed their factional
leader Ieng Sary and his aides in a mass defection to the government.
Sok Pheap added that the cause of the ongoing fighting between forces
loyal to the two feuding premiers was Funcinpec's negotiations with the
Pol Pot group, which had enraged Hun Sen.
''The 'arrest' of Pol Pot by the Khieu Samphan faction was a lie. Pol
Pot is still commanding everything," Sok Pheap said.
A senior Thai military source in Aranyaprathet told The Nation that Hun
Sen's forces had now penetrated and taken control of Monkol Borei
district in Sisophon province.
The source said Funcinpec's fifth region Deputy Commander Lt Gen Duang
Sukhon had defected to Hun Sen. In addition, Funcinpec's Deputy Chief of
Staff Gen Neak Bun Chay fled across the border to Si Sa Ket province
yesterday morning.
According to the source, Funcinpec now has only Lt Gen Ly Vira's 12th
division forces in the area, which still control Sisophon and Poipet.
Forces loyal to the CPP tried to convince Ly Vira to surrender, but he
refused.
Meanwhile, Hun Sen sent large numbers of troop reinforcements to western
Cambodia to try to prevent Ranariddh's forces from linking up with
hardline Khmer Rouge guerrillas.
Hun Sen, who had ruled Cambodia alongside Ranariddh since UN-organised
elections in 1993, deposed the prince and assumed sole control after
bloody clashes in Phnom Penh at the weekend.
"THERE WILL BE NO REAL DEMOCRACY IF WE CAN'T GURANTEE THE RIGHTS OF THE
MINORITY ETHNIC PEOPLE. ONLY UNDERSTANDING THEIR SUFFERING AND HELPING
THEM TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS WILL ASSIST PREVENTING FROM THE
DISINTEGRATION AND THE SESESSION." "WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR
STRENGTH, WE CAN'T TOPPLE THE SLORC AND BURMA WILL NEVER BE IN PEACE."
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