CAMBODIA: KHMER ROUGE DENY THEY ARE ON VERGE OF COLLAPSE

(31 Mar 1998) Thai/Khmer/Nat The Khmer Rouge denied on Tuesday that its guerrilla army was on the verge of collapse - despite having lost control of a seemingly impregnable stronghold in northern Cambodia. But the last die-hard faction of the revolutionary group - still at war with the government - is becoming more isolated. Cambodia’s government has shown that it has taken control of Preah Vihear, the Khmer Rouge’s long-held base at a historic hilltop temple. The government also claimed that the breakaway faction had been evicted from its northern Cambodian headquarters of Anlong Veng and were on the run. Preah Vihear - an 800-year-old clifftop edifice on the border with Thailand - has long been considered impregnable. But the Khmer Rouge apparently handed control over to troops loyal to Cambodian strongman Hun Sen without a fight. The 80 guerrillas, who had controlled the mountaintop since 1993, met some 50 government soldiers face-to-f