Negotiations on Kampuchea gather 'unprecedented momentum,' S-G says.

• Position: Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar on 24 October reported "unprecedented momentum" in the process of dialogue and negotiations regarding the situation in Kampuchea. Although "peace remains elusive", he said, the results of ongoing intensive diplomatic activity should not be lost. The Paris Conference on Cambodia in mid-1989 had achieved significant progress in elaborating a comprehensive political settlement, he said.

Also stating that Viet Nam had informed him that it had withdrawn all troops between 21 and 26 September, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said total withdrawal of foreign forces from Kampuchea, verified by an effective international control mechanism, would constitute an important element of such a settlement. A verification mechanism acceptable to all concerned had yet to materialize.

In his report to the Assembly (A/44/670), Mr. Perez de Cuellar said there could be no military solution to the problem. The most important outstanding issue was national reconciliation, which must begin with the definition of viable administrative arrangements for the transitional period leading to the holding of free, fair and internationally-supervised elections".

On 15 and 16 November, the General Assembly enumerated the principal components of a just, lasting and comprehensive political settlement" of the problem, including withdrawal of all foreign forces, under supervision and control of the UN; creation of an interim administering authority; promotion of national reconciliation among all Kampucheans under the leadership of Prince Norodom Sihanouk; and the non-return to the universally condemned policies and practices of a recent past.

Others were: restoration and preservation of Kampuchea's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and...