CAMBODIA: CLASHES BETWEEN SOLDIERS ALLIED TO RIVAL LEADERS

(5 Jul 1997) Natural Sound

Soldiers allied to Cambodia's rival leaders clashed on Saturday near the airport just outside the capital, Phnom Penh.

Forces backing Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party surrounded two military camps used by supporters of Co-Premier Norodom Ranariddh.

Mortar and rocket fire shook both bases. At least 140 Ranariddh fighters surrendered and no casualties were immediately reported.

Hun Sen manoeuvrings had all the trappings of a coup d'etat.

Troops loyal to Co-Premier Hun Sen surrounded two military camps near Phnom Penh's airport on Saturday.

One base, used by Ranariddh's top military adviser Nhek Bunnchay, just four kilometres (two miles) outside the airport, was completely surrounded by Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party forces.

Mortar and rocket fire echoed across the landscape, as the rival troops waged an hour long battle.

The fight apparently started when troops loyal to Hun Sen tried to confiscate weapons from Ranariddh's forces at another camp near Bantey Anpel village.

When that skirmish was over, Ranariddh's troops had laid down their arms and more than 140 had been captured, Hun Sen supporters said.

Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party claimed the defeated troops were in fact former Khmer Rouge rebels who had been recruited by Ranariddh to form a militia force.

The military action took place one day after Ranariddh left Cambodia to travel to France, igniting rumours and claims by clandestine Khmer Rouge radio that a coup was imminent.

The fighting was the latest in a series of confrontations between forces loyal to the premiers as Hun Sen presses his advantage in numbers and arms to disarm Ranariddh's troops.

Their rivalry has increasingly turned violent.

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