BANGKOK, May 2: The remaining forces of Cambodia's hardline Khmer Rouge guerrillas have split and are on the verge of defeat, a royalist Cambodian general said on Saturday as thousands of villagers loyal to the rebels fled to Thailand to escape fighting.General Nhiek Bun Chhay said he was waiting for instructions from ousted Cambodian Prince Norodom Ranariddh on whether to accept a group of some 1,600 guerrilla defectors whom he said wanted to surrender to him.``They have not yet joined me. I am waiting for instructions from my boss (Ranariddh),'' the general, who fled north following the prince's ousting by Cambodian strongman Hun Sen last year, told newsmen in a telephone interview.The royalist commander last month said as many as 1,600 Khmer Rouge fighters had sought to defect to his forces 80 km from where the Khmer Rouge were making their last stand in rugged mountains near the northern Cambodian village of Anlong Veng close to the Thai border.Nhiek Bun Chhay confirmed reports of a new riftwithin the remnants of the Khmer Rouge and said guerrilla leaders Khieu Samphan and Noun Chea were looking to surrender to the government.``It is true, they are not with (rebel commander) Ta Mok,'' he said. ``They left one week ago. They have may be 100 troops.``Ta Mok is in Anlong Veng, the others are in another place far from Ta Mok but I'am not sure where,'' he added.The Bangkok Post on Saturday quoted Thai military sources as saying that Khieu Samphan and Noun Chea had contacted Cambodian co-Defense Minister Tea Banh to offer their surrender.Khieu Samphan is the rebels' nominal political leader who represented them at Paris peace talks in 1991 and Noun Chea is the Khmer Rouge's top ideologue.The Cambodian government on Saturday claimed complete victory over the Khmer Rouge.Deputy Chief of General Staff Meas Sophea, who has been leading the campaign against the Anlong Veng area, said his troops had entered the last rebel bastions early Saturday. Military sources said Ta Mok and a numberof his loyalists had escaped to areas near Preah Vihear, a ruined temple in northern Cambodia.Nhiek Bun Chhay denied Thai newspaper reports that his forces were no longer under the command of Prince Ranariddh, who is expected to return to Phnom Penh on Monday to begin preparations for elections scheduled for July.``Yes, he is the commander. It is not true, you know, he is still commander of my forces. I hope he will make a decision (about the defectors). I hope in two or three days,'' he said.``Yesterday Khmer Rouge villagers went to Thailand. There is big fighting at Anlong Veng between government troops and the Khmer Rouge,'' the general added.
