Deputy Prime Minister NHEK Bunchhay of Cambodia

Gen Bunchhay said he expected the Khmer Rouge hardliners to make a statement today on their clandestine radio station announcing the end of guerrilla warfare and their decision to support the constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

For several months Nhek Bunchhay has been trying to get the last of the Khmer Rouge rebels, believed to number from several hundred to several thousand men, to end their long-running rebellion.

Nhek Bunchhay said the Khmer Rouge statement declares they will stop supporting organizations of Pol Pot and recognize Cambodia's constitution and King.

Bunchhay said the Government, working with the guerrilla defectors, would try to convince the 200-odd fighters still with Pol Pot to lay down their arms.

Bunchhay said these included long-time loyalists and central committee members Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea and Ta Mok.

Nhek Bunchhay said he now believed Howes had been killed within a week of his capture by a Khmer Rouge faction loyal to Pol Pot, then the guerrilla group's leader.