KR Tribunal Talks Possible at UN Session

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong will try to meet with high-ranking UN officials to discuss the stalled negotiations for a Khmer Rouge tribunal when he flies to New York today for the opening of the UN General As­sembly’s 57th session, according to officials within the Foreign Min­­­istry.

Specific meetings have not yet been arranged, according to the official, but Hor Namhong could meet with any of dozens of delegates to ask for their support in re­­­­suming the talks, which were aban­doned in February by the UN.

The trip is considered routine, according to a second ministry of­fi­cial, and not a specific response to the announcement from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that he may be willing to resume tribunal negotiations.

Annan said last month he would restart the talks if either the Security Council or the Gen­eral Assembly provides him with a mandate to do so.

Cambodia would have an easier time asking members of the General Assembly to pass such a mandate, observers have said, than going before the Security Council, where veto-wielding Chi­na has publicly opposed inter­national involvement in a trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders.

Hor Namhong could raise the stalled talks with several people other than Annan, including the Bul­garian mission to the UN, which is this month’s chair of the Security Council, or any of the de­legates to the General Assembly from nations that have expressed support for the talks, including the US and Japan—two of Cam­bo­dia’s largest donors.

Hor Namhong will address the General Assembly on Sept 18, ac­cording to a news release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The minister will also chair the in­formal Asean Foreign Ministers’ meeting on Sept 16, host an Ase­an reception Sept 18 and have un­specified “bilateral” meetings, the release stated.

Hor Namhong is expected to hold a news conference at the airport this evening to explain his trip.

The Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s led to the deaths of more than 1 million people due to torture, overwork, starvation and illness, but only two of its former leaders are in jail today awaiting trial for crimes allegedly committed during that time.