T HE UN and the Royal Government have reached a compromise over the deployment of

Blue Beret military observers, with three members of the Military Liaison team

staying on.

All 20 in the UNMLT were due to have pulled out on May 15

with the expiry of their six-month mandate.

But Co-Premiers Prince

Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen formally requested a new mandate for 30 observers

to watch the nation's borders. Their request followed condemnations of

Thailand's military for aiding the Khmer Rouge.

The UN turned down the

border watch request but Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali proposed three

members of the UNMLT stay on and work as advisors to his representative in Phnom

Penh Benny Widyono.

Widyono said: "The government seem quite satisfied

with the proposal." But he added the officers would be spending most of their

time working in Phnom Penh.