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DATE=3/9/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CAMBODIA / U-S (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260013
BYLINE=KAY JOHNSON
DATELINE=PHNOM PENH
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  A State Department official met with Cambodian 
leaders Thursday for talks on aid and a proposed 
tribunal on the genocide that took place during the 
years of Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia.  As Kay Johnson 
reports from Phnom Penh, the U-S official was hopeful 
that Cambodia will strike a deal with the United 
Nations next week on Khmer Rouge trials.
TEXT: The assistant secretary of state for East Asian 
affairs, Ralph Boyce, insisted he was on a routine 
trip to Cambodia Thursday. But the timing of the visit 
- one week before the arrival of a U-N negotiating
team - brought inevitable questions about the Khmer 
Rouge tribunal issue.
The United States has been quietly lobbying Cambodia 
and the United Nations to reach agreement on jointly 
running trials for atrocities that took place under 
the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s.  Mr. Boyce said 
he was optimistic that the two sides - at odds for 
more than a year - might finally reach agreement in 
next week's talks.
The envoy brushed aside suggestions that resumption of 
U-S foreign aid might be linked to trying the Khmer 
Rouge, but admitted that a deal next week might 
influence Congress.
            /// BOYCE ACT TWO ///
      If the discussions in the next week or two go 
      well and reach agreement, that will be one 
      of those hugely positive things . It's the kind 
      of story that will grip the attention of the 
      world and certainly is going to improve the 
      climate in Washington and elsewhere as far as 
      people regard Cambodia.
            /// END BOYCE ACT ///
At issue is how to try leaders of one of last 
century's most murderous regimes. The Khmer Rouge are 
blamed for the deaths of more than one million 
Cambodians during their rule from 1975 to 1979.
Cambodia wants the trials to be internationally 
recognized, but has so far refused to give up enough 
control to satisfy fears of a show trial that might 
allow mass murderers to escape justice.  Critics fear 
Mr. Hun Sen has made immunity deals with Khmer Rouge 
leaders in exchange for an end to their long civil 
war.
Hun Sen has threatened that he will hold the trials 
without U-N help if the world body does not agree to 
his plan. That prospect puts all the more pressure on 
next week's talks (Signed):
NEB/KJ/KL 
09-Mar-2000 07:58 AM EDT (09-Mar-2000 1258 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.