Khmer Rouge (Hansard, 22 April 1993)

§ Mr. Mullin
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has of the number of(a) civilian and (b) UN personnel killed by the Khmer Rouge in March.

§ Mr. Goodlad
One member of the United Nations transition authority in Cambodia's—UNTAC—military component was killed by the Khmer Rouge in March. UNTAC has no figures for civilian casualties throughout Cambodia. In view of the difficulties involved in identifying the culprits, it is not possible to specify which murders were perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge, although there is a strong likelihood that they were involved in the recent attacks on ethnic Vietnamese.

§ Mr. Mullin
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reconsideration the Government have undertaken of their views on the inclusion of the Khmer Rouge in the Cambodia peace process.

§ Mr. Goodlad
Our views on the inclusion of the Khmer Rouge in the peace process remain unchanged. The civil war in Cambodia could not have been brought to an end if the comprehensive political settlement had excluded any of the main parties to the dispute. To have done so would only have prolonged the conflict and condemned the Cambodian people to indefinite misery. We deplore the failure of the Khmer Rouge to live up to its commitments under the Paris agreements.

§ Mr. Mullin
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has of the percentage of Cambodian territory controlled by the Khmer Rouge(a) at the commencement of the UN mandate and (b) at present.

§ Mr. Goodlad
Because of the dispositions of the factions in Cambodia, it is difficult to determine precisely how much territory is held by each. We do not believe, however, that the Khmer Rouge since October 1991 has been able to extend to any marked degree the villages and territory under its control.

§ Mr. Mullin
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what current estimate he has made of the military threat posed by the Khmer Rouge to the peace process in Cambodia; and what will be the British contribution to resisting it.

§ Mr. Goodlad
UNTAC estimates that the current strength of the Khmer Rouge armed forces is somewhere in the region of 12,000 front-line troops. They have shown their ability to carry out guerrilla operations, but their strength lies in the western and north western provinces.148W The United Kingdom has contributed 122 personnel to UNTAC's military component to enable it to implement its mandate under the terms of the Paris agreements.