Indochina: Hi, U.N.; Bye, Moscow

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On its face, the news was promising. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed in Paris last week that the United Nations should help administer and police war-weary Cambodia until a new government is elected. But it remains to be seen to what extent the contending factions -- especially the Khmer Rouge, the most powerful of three resistance groups fighting Prime Minister Hun Sen's regime -- will accept U.N. intervention.

The prospects for peace in Cambodia were advanced on another front last week when Moscow confirmed reports that it has withdrawn most of its air forces from the military base at Viet Nam's Cam Ranh Bay. The move appeared to be aimed at cutting costs, pressuring the U.S. to reduce its military presence in the Pacific and, significant for Cambodia, improving relations with Beijing. The Cambodian conflict has in some ways been a proxy war between the Soviets, who back Hun Sen, and the Chinese, who support the resistance.