Story made up, writer admits to N.Y. Times

A free-lance writer admitted he fabricated an article about a trip to Cambodia that appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the newspaper said.

Christopher Jones confessed he made up the Dec. 20 article about a trip with Khmer Rouge rebels into Cambodia from his imagination, part of a novel, and research during two trips he said he made to the Indochinese nation in 1980, the Times reported in a front-page story.

Mr. Jones admitted he faked the story after three days of interrogation by Times editors in Calpe, Spain, where he wrote most of the article in his parents' seaside apartment.

''We checked his reputation and were informed by a publication for which he had worked in Asia that he was a reliable journalist,'' New York Times Executive Editor Abe Rosenthal said in the newspaper report.

''We do not feel that the fact the writer was a liar and hoaxer removes our responsibility,'' Mr. Rosenthal said. ''It is our job to uncover any falsehood or errors.''

Jones said he intended to travel to Cambodia to report on the activities of followers of former Prime Minister Pol Pot but didn't have enough money to make the trip.