1.
GV Sihanouk seated at conference with officials either side.
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2.
GV Newsmen asking questions.
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3.
SCU ZOOM TO CU Sihanouk speaking in English.
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SPEECH (TRANSCRIPT)



SIHANOUK: (SEQ. 3) "I met yesterday, on the afternoon, his excellency Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore. We agreed with each other as for us the necessity for Cambodia in the future to, to disarm, to disarm all Cambodian factions or at least to put their armies, the red ones, the blue ones, the white ones, all in camps preventing them from fighting each other from creating conditions for a civil war preventing them form threatening the lives and the safety of the people of Cambodia. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew is very clear vis a vis this problem and he wants me to maintain my position consisting of demanding the disarming of all Cambodian factions. And you know, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge they wish the Chinese.. they think certainly that they have to make a long war against the Vietnamese. The Chinese told me in Peking, when I was in Peking before coming to France and now to Singapore, they told me that we should accept a very long war, ten years, twenty years, finally we will win but that is not my conviction is that we cannot win such a war and we can hope, only hope for a compromise. An honourable compromise."





Initials JS





Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: INTRODUCTION: Former Kampuchean head of state Prince Sihanouk hold a news conference in Singapore on Saturday (5 September). He said he had agreed to join a proposed coalition with the Khmer Rouge mainly to secure arms China for his resistance forces. He said he had signed a joint declaration with Khmer Rouge chief Khieu Samphan and anti-Communist leader Son Sann. The press conference was held after two days of talks among the three leaders.

SYNOPSIS: The leaders said a committee would be set up to study the formation of a coalition. Prince Sihanouk said he thought a protracted war could not be won.