FUNCINPEC Secretary-General Tol Lah said on May 20 that he was convinced about the

sincerity of his party president in attempting last year to bring a peaceful end

to Cambodia's civil war.

Tol Lah said: "I remember sitting [with Prince Ranariddh] and him telling me

'I want to give Asean a golden plate when [Cambodia is] admitted to the association.

I will tell them that this is the end of the Khmer Rouge, and the close of the Khmer

Rouge history'."

Tol Lah said he believed that Ranariddh was sincere in "wanting to get Khieu

Samphan along with us, and give Pol Pot up to the international community".

He said while not having seen the KR political documents obtained from Anlong Veng

by the Post, he did not want to doubt their authenticity.

But as far as them detailing an alliance based on military parity against the CPP,

"as a senior Funcinpec officer I know nothing about that".

Nor, obviously, did Tol Lah know about the documents' revelations that the KR were

intending to use the alliance for their own means.

"The negotiations with Khieu Samphan and Nhek Bun Chhay - that's the only story

I know or have been told all along," Tol Lah said.

Like Rainsy, Tol Lah said that senior defectors to the CPP - such as Ieng Sary and

Ke Pauk - "are free around Phnom Penh all the time. I don't see any secret about

that".

Accepting that Ranariddh may have negotiated in good faith, Tol Lah said: "But

you know you can't trust anybody in a game like that, but [Ranariddh's] will was

to end the crisis.

"Why don't you ask Hun Sen when he talks to Ieng Sary? I'm not crying for justice,

but it's completely unfair for us."