Word: phnom
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...noose that for months has dangled around Phnom-Penh's neck drew painfully tighter. To the southeast, 30 miles down the Mekong, the government lost its last two strongholds. After a siege of three months, the insurgents overpowered stubborn resistance, often in bloody, hand-to-hand combat, to capture the twin towns of Banam and Neak Luong. The victory freed some 4,000 Khmer Rouge troops who were reported to be making their way up the Mekong in sampans for the looming assault on the capital. To the east, the attackers overran several government positions to come within mortar...
...Saukam Khoy's first acts was to summon all of Cambodia's senior generals for a seven-hour meeting to determine whether anything could be salvaged from Phnom-Penh's parlous military situation. By the time the conference broke up at 1 a.m., Saukam Khoy had decided to give a morale-boosting pay raise to all military personnel (a one-star general makes only $25 a month), though nobody was sure where the money would come from...
...with the Khmer Rouge and negotiations to establish a coalition government. The only response from the shadowy Communist insurgents was a step-up in their attacks throughout the country. After withstanding a prolonged seige, the government last week finally abandoned the city of Kompong Seila, 70 miles southwest of Phnom-Penh, and airlifted 2,000 civilians and troops out of the city. The Khmer Rouge advanced within mortar range of the airport at Battambang, the country's second largest city (pop. 200,000), temporarily halting the ammunition and supply flights on which that city depends for survival...
Ford said the setbacks for the Saigon and Phnom Penh regimes have "disquieted many of our friends," especially in Asia...
Ford made no new requests for aid to Cambodia, beyond the $222 million already asked. He read a letter from Saukham Khoy, acting president of the Phnom Penh regime...