Word: kampuchea
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Some diplomatic sources feel that Viet Nam's latest concession may be intended to deflect further U.S. criticism of its attacks on Khmer resistance camps in neighboring Kampuchea. Laos' accommodating attitude may be in response to recent U.S. overtures, including an American shipment in December of 5,000 tons of rice to alleviate the effects of a poor Laotian harvest. But no major breakthrough of the M.I.A. problem in Laos or Viet Nam seems near. "The timing has made everyone open their eyes," says one U.S. official in Bangkok. "But nothing has happened that hasn't been in the works...
...days after the big push kicked off, the Vietnamese had achieved their objectives, driving the Khmer Rouge from their most important base area; Western diplomats in Bangkok called it Viet Nam's greatest victory in its six- year-old war in Kampuchea. More than 40,000 civilians normally under Khmer Rouge control spilled into Thailand, some 25 miles south of the camps holding 60,000 refugees who had fled earlier in the assault when the Vietnamese rolled over non-Communist resistance units. Khmer Rouge guerrillas who had fought around Phnom Malai began to filter in the opposite direction, deeper into...
...Communist Asian nations last week issued an unprecedented appeal for "support and assistance to the Kampuchean people" in the "military struggle" to oust their country's Vietnamese occupiers. To the representatives of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines), backing for Kampuchea these days means weapons. Comparing the Kampucheans with Afghan freedom fighters, Thai Foreign Minister Siddhi Savetsila declared, "How do you expect these Kampucheans to survive if they have nothing? They can't fight with their bare hands...
...reason for ASEAN's action was soon evident. Within 24 hours, more than 30,000 Vietnamese troops supported by tanks and artillery had launched the final phase of a powerful pincer assault near the Thai border with Kampuchea. Their aim: to brush aside an estimated 10,000 lightly armed Kampuchean resistance fighters and gain control of a mountainous guerrilla fastness known as Phnom Malai. Two and a half months into this year's dry-season offensive, the Vietnamese had decided to move decisively against the most resilient resistance group of all, the remnants of the Khmer Rouge, who ran Kampuchea...
...paid a visit to Phnom Malai to announce support from a scattering of Third World nations. During Sihanouk's visit, Khieu Samphan, one of the Khmer Rouge's top leaders, had assured newsmen that "we are safe here." Describing the Vietnamese as hard-pressed by guerrilla operations deep inside Kampuchea, he said, "They are in difficulty. We are more and more strong...