• by IPS Correspondents (phnom penh)
• Friday, November 11, 1994
• Inter Press Service

PHNOM PENH, Nov 11 (IPS) - After years of insisting that the Khmer Rouge be included in any effort to rebuild war-ravaged Cambodia, Western countries led by Australia are finally rallying to help Phnom Penh eradicate the dreaded guerrilla group.

But Thailand has been sideswiped in Canberra's push to go after the Khmer Rouge, with accusations that the Thai military is still coddling the rebels on its soil.

Thailand has demanded that Australia issue proof to back up its claim. Relations between the two countries are now in danger of deteriorating on the eve of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Indonesia next week.

"This groundless claim against Thailand is both inappropriate and unfair," said Thai foreign ministry spokesman Suvit Simasakul this week. "It will have negative effects on Thailand's attempts to help bring about reconciliation and rehabilitation in Cambodia."

Still, analysts say Thailand's past ties with the Khmer Rouge -- which have ensured they were worthwhile by granting Thai businessmen concessions in gem and timber-rich areas -- have made many quick to assume that such connections have not been severed completely.

They suggest that Bangkok set up a joint Thai-Cambodian investigation team to deal with allegations of continued Thai military for the Khmer Rouge.

In addition, analysts say the whole network of warehouses used between 1979 to 1991 by the Thai military to supply Cambodian rebel forces fighting the then Vietnamese-backed government in Phnom Penh should be open to U.N. inspection. This, they say, would prove they are no longer used to help the guerrilla group.

But they say the West is also to blame for the Khmer Rouge's continued existence and any remnants of Thai support for the force responsible for the deaths of at least one million Cambodians.

Despite being away of the slaughter that occurred in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge's brief but bloody reign in the late 1970s, the West chose support it in the United Nations against the Hanoi- backed Hun Sen government and made sure it was one of the signatories in the Paris peace pact in 1991.

The Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) proved no better judge of character, and constantly harped on the theme of national reconciliation of all factions in Cambodia.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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