Khmer People's National Liberation Front

The Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) was a political front organized in 1979 in opposition to the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) regime in Cambodia. The 200,000 Vietnamese troops supporting the PRK, as well as Khmer Rouge defectors, had ousted the brutal Democratic Kampuchea regime of Pol Pot, and were initially welcomed by the majority of Cambodians as liberators. Some Khmer, though, recalled the two countries' historical rivalry and feared that the Vietnamese would attempt to subjugate the country, and began to oppose their military presence. Members of the KPNLF supported this view.

Ideology and establishment

The KPNLF was a republican, conservative, anti-Communist, and nationalist organization that consisted of several anti-Khmer Rouge politicians prominent in the former administrations of Prince Norodom Sihanouk and General Lon Nol. It came to be led by Son Sann, a former prime minister during the Sihanouk era. It drew most of its support from Cambodian refugees along the Thai-Cambodian border, and administered about 160,000 civilians in a camp known as "Site 2." Its armed wing was known as the Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces (KPNLAF) and was commanded by General Dien Diel.

The KPNLAF fielded approximately 12-15,000 guerrillas, but almost a third of them were wiped out in a 1984-85 Vietnamese counterinsurgency offensive. It was lacking in military strength compared to the Khmer Rouge, who were well-trained and supplied with Chinese weapons. This was a likely reason for the formation of the tripartite political alliance in 1982 known as the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK,) which included the Khmer Rouge despite Son Sann's past condemnations of the group.

International support and criticism

The United States and the United Kingdom gave moral support to the KPNLF, opposing an expansion of Vietnamese Communist influence in Indochina (which already had a substantial role in Laos.) In 1985, the Reagan administration approved $5 million in aid to the non-Khmer Rouge insurgent forces. Throughout the '80s, the U.S. supported a political resolution in Cambodia that would involve the eventual full withdrawal of Vietnamese troops. The KPNLF also received support as a part of the CGDK alliance from ASEAN countries opposed to the PRK.

However, despite this support as well as an increase in KPNLAF military strength during the late '80s, the Khmer Rouge remained the dominant insurgent force in Cambodia. The KPNLF also came under criticism in the mid-'80s after its setback from the Vietnamese offensive, with some dissident KPNLF members accusing Son Sann of being dictatorial and inflexible. There was also noticeable international concern voiced about the KPNLAF after reports that some field commanders were involved in the black market and other corrupt activities, as well as possible human rights abuses by the KPNLF in the camps it controlled along the Thai border.

Political reconciliation

A UN-brokered peace and reconciliation process beginning in 1991 paved the way for the KPNLF to become a part of the political process. Son Sann formed the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP) as a successor to the KPNLF, but the party was torn by rivalry between Sann and Ieng Mouly and only won 10 out of 120 seats in the National Assembly.

Due to intraparty tensions, the BLDP split into the Son Sann Party and the Buddhist Liberal Party (BLP) led by Ieng Mouly in 1997. Each party contested the 1998 elections without success, having failed to win any seats.

Son Sann left Cambodia in May 1997 and lived the rest of his life in Paris. He died of heart failure on December 19, 2000 at the age of 89.

External links

* [http://www.country-studies.com/cambodia/the-khmer-people's-national-liberation-front.html Background info on the KPNLF]
* [http://www.seasite.niu.edu/khmer/Ledgerwood/keywords.htm Information on BLDP political showings in the '90s]
* [http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa074.html Cambodian insurgency and U.S. relations]
* [http://www.c-r.org/accord/cam/accord5/profiles.shtml Political parties in Cambodia]
* [http://www.hrw.org/reports/1990/WR90/ASIA.BOU-03.htm Human Rights Watch on CGDK]