Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said it was possible he would talk with UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan about stalled negotiations for a trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders, but the minister said he would not initiate such a conversation.
“I will meet with Kofi Annan. I will not talk about the Khmer Rouge trial in this bilateral meeting, but if Kofi Annan raises the issue, I will explain Cambodia’s stance,” Hor Namhong told reporters at the ministry on Wednesday.
The minister boarded a plane for New York early in the evening on Wednesday. He is scheduled to attend the upcoming 57th session of the UN General Assembly.
“Cambodia welcomes the continuation of [trial] negotiations and the UN’s participation,” he said. “To get a clear mandate, it does not depend on Cambodia—it depends on the members of the UN.”
The UN ended negotiations toward a joint UN-Cambodian tribunal in February, accusing Cambodia of lacking the will to go ahead with an internationally acceptable trial. But in August, after months of pressure from UN member nations who support the trial effort, Annan said the world
¿¿¿¿¿¿ orld body could return to the table if the Security Council or General Assembly provided a mandate to do so.
“If the UN’s members can get a mandate from the Security Council or the General Assembly for Kofi Annan, we certainly don’t oppose it, because we have the will to let the UN participate,” the minister said.
“I won’t bring up the Khmer Rouge trial—this issue should be allowed to proceed quietly,” he said. “It depends on Kofi Annan and the UN members to get a mandate. Cambodia is waiting to cooperate.”
The minister added that he didn’t believe that the tribunal would be raised in the General Assembly, but “could be the subject of bilateral and multilateral communications and lobbying.”
Observers say the General Assembly holds more promise of nudging the stalled tribunal forward. In the Security Council, China would probably veto such an idea, as it has threatened to do in the past. China says the issue should be Cambodia’s business.
At the airport Wednesday evening, Hor Namhong told reporters that one of the members of the Security Council would likely veto a tribunal mandate. China, the US, Britain, France and Russia hold permanent seats on the Security Council.
(Additional reporting by Pin Sisovann)
