Kampuchea Where Fear and Silence Reign

Kampuchea is quiet. Everywhere. In Kep, a small seaside resort near the Vietnamese border, the ruins of churches, schools and villas rise from encroaching jungle. The narrow road leading into the town, once a weekend retreat for Phnom Penh's well-off, is choked with underbrush. Here and there on the nearly deserted beach, small groups picnic -- families, a gathering of friends. A song of the '60s drifts from a tape recorder, bringing with it the memory of better times.

After nearly two decades of war, peace may be coming to Kampuchea at last. Officials of the Heng Samrin government met outside...