
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1990                   TAG: 9007180482
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PARIS                                LENGTH: Short

U.S., VIETNAM AGREE TO DISCUSS CAMBODIA

In a major policy shift, the Bush administration announced today that it is withdrawing recognition of the rebel coalition trying to oust Cambodia's Hanoi-backed government and opening a new dialogue with Vietnam.

The change is prompted by fears of a resurgence of the Khmer Rouge, which is the strongest faction in the tripartite rebel coalition and has scored a string of recent battlefield victories in Cambodia.

The Khmer Rouge was responsible for the deaths of more than a million Cambodians during a 1975-78 reign of terror. It now controls large sections of northwestern Cambodia.

The announcement by Secretary of State James Baker reflected a growing conviction in Washington that the communist Khmer Rouge forces are about to topple the Cambodian government.

Under U.S. pressure, the United Nations has awarded a seat to the resistance coalition, which is led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, denying formal recognition to the Hanoi-backed government of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

But U.S. aid for the non-communist resistance groups under Sihanouk and former premier Son Sann has prompted allegations the United States is indirectly backing the Khmer Rouge. Baker did not say whether the United States would now support Hun Sen for the U.N. seat.

by CNB