Mandate ends, UN presence diminishes.

• Position: Cambodia

The mandate of the United Nations Military Liaison Team in Cambodia, set up in November 1993 for a single six-month period under Security Council resolution 880 (1993), expired on 15 May 1994.

In a final report (S/1994/645) dated 31 May, the Secretary-General said the Phnom Penh-based mission, in accordance with its mandate, had primarily conducted liaison and reporting activities, following the departure of the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)--a major UN operation that had overseen for 17 months Cambodia's march to democracy, including the May 1993 elections.

While the Liaison Team was in Cambodia, observation missions had been sent to camps for defectors from the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea (NADK) and to the Officer Training Academy of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), he reported.

The RCAF and NADK had continued to fight in the north and north-western parts of Cambodia, the Secretary-General reported. The RCAF had conducted a number of attacks on NADK strongholds at Anlong Veng and Pailin, temporarily capturing both and reportedly causing some 30,000 refugees to cross the border into Thailand.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 28 March had appointed Benny Widyono as his representative for Cambodia for a period of six months, with three military officers drawn from the Liaison Team serving as his advisers. They would assist Mr. Widyono in fulfilling his mandate in accordance with the spirit and principles of the Paris Agreements. The presence of UN personnel contributed, in the Government's view, to a sense of security among the Cambodian people, the Secretary-General stated on 6 May.

King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia had informed the Secretary-General on 7 May (A/49/160-S/1994/570) and 25 May (A/49/167-S/1994/619) that the situation in the country had deteriorated to a dangerous degree, with increasingly violent and murderous military clashes also taking place.

"In vain, from my Beijing hospital bed and then since my return to Cambodia, I have launched many solemn appeals for a cease-fire and have proposed a round table for peace and national reconciliation in neutral territory from 2 to 7 May 1994", King Sihanouk said in his 7 May report.

Threat of partition?

The Royal Government of Cambodia had responded favourably to these proposals. The Khmer Rouge had confirmed its agreement in principle, but nevertheless set...