Vietnam withdraws from Thai-Kampuchea border

Vietnamese forces in Kampuchea (Cambodia) abandoned their forward positions near the Thai border early this month, Thai military sources said.

The sources said the move was apparently part of a Vietnamese wet-season strategy to counter the greater mobility of the Khmer Rouge in the waterlogged border terrain. They also said the repositioning was not connected with a partial-withdrawal announcement made in Ho Chi Minh City nearly two weeks ago.

Also Tuesday, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach denied reports he had threatened noncommunist Southeast Asian nations that Vietnam might start guerrilla movements in their territories.