The Missing Journalists

At least some of the 21 journalists,* of various nationalities, missing while on assignment in Cambodia, may still be alive. Last week CBS'S Walter Cronkite, who heads the Committee to Free Journalists Held in Southeast Asia, announced that "we believe they are held by the Khmer Rouge, the major insurgent group in Cambodia. They are kept on the move between prison compounds. Their exact identities are not known, nor is the state of their health." This new information partially corroborates previous intelligence reports that longhaired, bearded prisoners have been seen by Cambodian peasants near guerrilla hideouts along the South Vietnamese border.

Some of the newsmen have been held for as long as four years. During that time a number of investigations have been launched to find them. But Cambodia has been so torn by insurgency that it was nearly impossible to pursue leads. Even Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the deposed Cambodian ruler who is now living in exile in Peking and who is the insurgents' nominal head, has said that he can learn nothing about the missing journalists. The committee's announcement rekindled hope that the mystery surrounding the newsmen's fate may soon be resolved.

*Including four Americans: Photographer Sean Flynn, who was captured in April 1970 while on assignment for TIME; CBS Cameraman Dana Stone; UPl's Terry Reynolds; and NBC Correspondent Welles Hangen.

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