U.N. Helicopter in Cambodia Hit by Ground Fire

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia —  A U.N. helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing after being hit by ground fire in northwest Cambodia, a U.N. spokesman said Friday.

A second helicopter sent to pick up the passengers and crew also came under fire as it hovered just above the ground.

The shootings Thursday near the ancient Angkor temple complex took place in an area usually controlled by the Khmer Rouge guerrilla faction, the spokesman said.

The incident was the latest in a long line of attacks on U.N. helicopters blamed on the Khmer Rouge. It has denied the charges and government allegations that it has offered a bounty of $3,500 for every machine downed.

At a crucial meeting in Beijing this weekend, international mediators will try to persuade the Khmer Rouge to honor the accord they signed in October last year with two allied guerrilla groups and the Phnom Penh government to end 13 years of civil war.