U.N. to Combat Political Murders in Cambodia : Peacekeeping: Troops will arrest suspects, lawyers will prosecute in effort to improve conditions for May vote.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia —  The beleaguered U.N. peacekeepers here announced sweeping measures Thursday to battle a brutal surge of political murders and attacks that have left at least 30 people dead and scores wounded in recent weeks and threaten to derail democratic elections this May.

In what officials called a first for U.N. peacekeepers, Yasushi Akashi, head of the U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia, approved a plan to allow U.N. troops to arrest and detain suspects for serious human rights violations; U.N. lawyers will investigate, indict and prosecute offenders under a penal code drafted by U.N. officials.

Michael C. Williams, deputy director of the U.N. human rights division here, said politically motivated murders and attacks by and against major political factions have increased “in quantity and seriousness” since November and have created “a climate of fear in much of the country.”

“The present atmosphere is one of deep concern and seriously threatens the prospect of holding elections,” he said in an interview. He cited at least 30 deaths from shootings, grenade attacks and summary executions. “It’s several killings a week now we have to handle,” he said.

About half the victims were ethnic Vietnamese settlers, fatally tortured by hard-line Khmer Rouge guerrillas, the murderous Maoist group that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to early 1979. The other victims, officials said, were mostly opponents of Premier Hun Sen’s Vietnamese-installed government in Phnom Penh, especially supporters of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the country’s head of state.

The human rights crackdown comes at a critical time for the U.N. peacekeeping effort, one of its largest and most expensive. Campaigning is due to start next month for national legislative elections to be held by the end of May. About 4.4 million voters have registered, more than 90% of those eligible, and 20 parties have been formed.

But fears are growing that the ambitious $2-billion U.N. operation, designed to bring peace and democracy to this long-suffering country, is unraveling as the election approaches.

The Khmer Rouge has refused to allow U.N. military teams or observers into an estimated 15% of the country that it controls; it has refused to disarm or demobilize, as required under Paris peace accords of 1991. As a result, only about one-fourth of the various factions’ 200,000 soldiers have disarmed.

Khmer Rouge armed intransigence turned more dangerous last month when its troops detained or took U.N. troops hostage four times, threatening the last group with execution. Then, on Dec. 31, the guerrillas attacked a U.N. military outpost for the first time, firing 75 Chinese-made 107-millimeter rockets into a garrison held by a Bangladeshi infantry battalion at a road junction in Svea Leu in central Cambodia.

There were no injuries; all 45 U.N. troops and civilian personnel in the area were evacuated. But senior U.N. officials now fear that more attacks by the Khmer Rouge are inevitable.

“Everywhere I’ve told people to dig in,” said Lt. Gen John Sanderson, head of the 16,000-member U.N. military force.

The growing political violence was highlighted this week when Prince Sihanouk, the popular monarch and president of the ruling Supreme National Council, announced in Beijing that he will no longer cooperate with the U.N. operation because of growing attacks on his supporters in a pro-royalist party led by his son.

The party, known as Funcinpec for its French acronym, is the largest opposition group and has been the chief target of political assassinations, grenade attacks and other harassment. The United Nations has recorded at least 19 attacks on Funcinpec offices between Nov. 12 and Dec. 25, leaving nine dead, two missing and 16 wounded. Witnesses said many attacks were carried out by soldiers loyal to the government.

Sihanouk is widely perceived as the only person able to unite Cambodia after two decades of conflict and 13 years of civil war. In a sign of his importance, Akashi, head of the U.N. operation, flew to Beijing on Thursday to meet the prince in hopes of persuading him to return.

Akashi authorized the human rights prosecutions after meeting Wednesday with ambassadors here from the five permanent Security Council members: the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia. One diplomat present said the group was highly critical of flaws in the U.N. effort and pressed Akashi to act to stem political violence before it deepens.

Officials said the plan envisions creating a special prosecutor’s office to investigate and pursue cases--especially political killings--referred by the human rights division. U.N. troops would be authorized to use force, if necessary, to arrest and detain suspects. A Cambodian judge would hear the case in a local court.