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After the three ghosts—Cambodian nationalists who had been variously influenced by Marxism—disappeared in 1967, they joined forces with a revolutionary movement that had been organized by a small group of doctrinaire Marxists who had fallen out with Sihanouk several years earlier. Among them were three revolutionaries who had also studied in Paris but were unknown to most of their countrymen:
> Ieng Sary, 44, now the special adviser to Samphan, is also secretary-general of the Khmer Communist Party. Sary often visits Peking, and on earlier trips kept a careful eye on Sihanouk and his followers there; in 1973 he accompanied the Prince on a visit to Khmer Rouge-controlled regions of Cambodia. Some Cambodians regard him as a hard-line Communist who has helped make the movement intractable and uncompromising.
> Saloth Sar, 47, is chairman of the Khmer Communist Party and thus one of its most powerful men. Little is known about him beyond the fact that he was born in Kompong Thorn province, studied at an industrial school in Phnom-Penh and took a radio technician's course in France.
> Son Sen, 44, a onetime teacher, is the Khmer Rouge chief of staff. Until last year he was believed to be the third-ranking man in the Khmer Communist Party. Since a party reorganization, however, he seems to have been moved down a notch in the party hierarchy to make way for Khieu Samphan.
Curbed Influence. In the past three years, leftists within the Khmer Rouge have drastically curbed Sihanouk's influence. Since the last Cabinet reshuffle only two portfolios in the shadow government have been retained by men known to be loyal to the Prince. leng Sary recently made a two-week visit to Peking, during which he saw Premier Chou En-lai and held talks about continued arms aid. Sary is not known to have conferred at all with Sihanouk, his nominal chief of state.
At the same time, the Khmer Rouge have reduced North Viet Nam's influence. Back in 1970, the insurgents' fighting force of 3,000-5,000 men was largely dominated by several thousand Cambodians who had been training in Hanoi since 1954. Until 1972 the insurgents were still under direct North Vietnamese command. During the Easter offensive that year, Hanoi transferred most of its Cambodia-based troops to South Viet Nam, and the Khmer Rouge established their own general staff. Since 1974, when the insurgents expanded their army to as many as 70,000 men, with women and teen-agers conscripted as porters and stretcher bearers, North Vietnamese troops have not been engaged in Cambodian combat.
What kind of government would the Khmer Rouge impose on Cambodia? French diplomats believe that the movement's nationalist and pro-Peking elements will endure; State Department experts feel strongly that Hanoi's influence will prevail. The most optimistic Western observers believe the Khmer nationalism, reinforced by the traditional rivalry that exists between Cambodians and Vietnamese, will create a sort of Yugoslav brand of Communism that is distinctively Cambodian.