Who’s in Charge Here?

Once again, Khmer Rouge forces seized and held United Nations peacekeeping troops. Initially 21, mostly Indonesian paratroopers, were held for two days in a hamlet 100 miles north of Phnom Penh by about 70 heavily armed guerrillas, who refuse to cooperate with the U.N. peace plan; 46 U.N. troops negotiating to free them were also briefly detained before all were released. In a separate incident, the Khmer Rouge were holding nine others from the U.N. under a threat of death at week’s end. The episodes cast doubts on both the U.N.’s credibility and Cambodia’s plans for elections in May.