T

he CPP rejected on June 28 a Khmer Rouge call for a new national government

that would include the rebels.

CPP President Chea Sim said making

concessions to the KR "would be a big insult to the Cambodian people and also

would constitute a heavy blow to the result of the UN operation in Cambodia."

Chea Sim was addressing a crowd of about 2,000 party-faithful meeting to

mark the party's 43rd anniversary.

The KR plan for power-sharing, put

forth in a weekend radio broadcast, is similar to the one offered by King

Norodom Sihanouk.

King Sihanouk recently suggested forming a national

unity government that would include the KR, but has since stepped back from the

proposal and assured government leaders he would not act without government or

parliament's authority.

Chea Sim, a former member of the KR, expressed

support for the US initiative to investigate KR crimes during Cambodia's

"Killing Fields" years in the late 1970's.

Under legislation signed on

April 30 the Office of Cambodia Genocide Investigation must be set up in

Washington by the end of July.