Word: norodom
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...than a little irony. Though the search for Communist supplies went on, the business of "cleaning out" the sanctuaries (see box, page 27) reverted almost to a sideshow. Cambodia itself had become the main arena. Two months ago, when Premier Lon Nol and Deputy Premier Sirik Matak overthrew Prince Norodom Sihanouk, one of their major objectives was to rid the country of Communist Vietnamese troops. Now the Vietnamese loyal to Hanoi are outnumbered in Cambodia by Vietnamese loyal to Saigon, and the country of 7,000,000 has become a battleground for the warring outsiders...
Publicly at least, the Cambodians insist that they do not want the South Vietnamese roaming around their country indefinitely. Cambodia's Deputy Premier Prince Sirik Matak, who with Premier Lon Nol and Foreign Minister Yem Sambour formed the troika that ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk, told TIME Correspondent Louis Kraar: "After the sanctuaries are destroyed and after the end of June, we do not want foreign troops on our soil. It will be our task to chase the Communists away...
Partly Illusory. The chunky 56-year-old general, who led the group that ousted Norodom Sihanouk as Cambodia's chief of state two months ago, has grievous problems nonetheless. Outside the now embattled sanctuaries...
...forces behind the coup-which toppled the neutralist regime at Prince Norodom Sihanouk-had lately come under sharp attack from opposition troops within Cambodia, and the insurgents had driven to within 50 miles of the capital city. Phnom Penh, by the time the Americans and South Vietnamese attacked across the border. Until, that time, the besieged junta had been pleading for support from neighboring nations, and was confining to do so, particularity in the United Nations, even after the Allied operation...
...answer goes back to a shift in Southeast Asia's balance of power in March: the unexpected overthrow of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia's ruler for nearly 30 years. Sihanouk tolerated the presence of some 40,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong in border provinces?but he managed to keep them in check by adroit political maneuvering. The new regime, headed by General Lon Nol, was determined to end Sihanouk's policy of playing along with the Communists. But Lon Nol's army, long used largely for roadbuilding and ceremonial functions, was, as one foreign diplomat observed, "more like...