Khmer Rouge claims recapture of lost territory in N Cambodia

It was the first time any Khmer Rouge leader has spoken over the airwaves since the mutiny broke out within their ranks last week.

The split appears to have severely weakened what remains of the hard core loyalists, but the government-backed mutineers were apparently unable to hold Anlong Veng.

“Presently we are in complete control of the liberated zone … The invading soldiers have been beaten by our army, and have run away in disarray,” Samphan said in reference to the government army.

A senior Cambodian government general admitted yesterday that KhmerRouge guerrillas were counter-attacking in Anlong Veng with heavy artillery barrages and that they had reclaimed some territory which had been captured by the government.

The recaptured ground includes the house of behind-the-scenes leader Ta Mok, located about four km from Anlong Veng, said Gen Chea Saran, chief of military operations for the government army.

Although Samphan is the nominal head of the hardline guerrillas, their real leader is said to be Ta Mok, a one-legged veteran fighter with a reputation for great brutality.

Gen Saran claimed Ta Mok’s forces had been joined by loyalists of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, whom they had supported after the Prince was deposed as Cambodian leader Hun Sen’s co-prime minister in a coup last July.

Under a Japanese diplomatic plan enabling Ranariddh to return to contest elections slated for July 26, the Prince’s forces are supposed to break all links with the Khmer Rouge.

A Thai officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday that Ta Mok’s troopswere heading toward Preah Vihear, 65 km east of Anlong Veng, with the aim of retaking a strategic hilltop temple the Khmer Rouge garrison ceded to the government last weekend.

Last week’s mutiny sparked an exodus of thousands of refugees from areas earlier held by the guerillas.

Samphan appealed today, to all brothers who have mistakenly gone the wrong way to halt immediately acts of killing and robbing of the people under the orders of Hun Sen the puppet.