U.S. Will Help Cambodians, Reagan Tells Star of ‘Fields’

WASHINGTON — President Reagan told the star and the subject of the movie “The Killing Fields” on Friday that he is committed to working for peace in Cambodia and to helping the flood of refugees who have fled that war-torn land.

Dith Pran, the Cambodian journalist portrayed in the film by Academy Award winner Haing S. Ngor, commented after he, his wife and Ngor met with Reagan: “We are very glad he has seen the movie and is aware about the Cambodian situation. He said he would do all his best to solve the Cambodian problem.”

Pran, now a New York Times photographer, said he urged the President to initiate negotiations aimed at making Cambodia “a neutral zone so East and West couldn’t hit each other.”

Ngor, who was recruited for the movie while working as a job counselor for Indochinese refugees in Los Angeles, said he discussed with Reagan the plight of Cambodian refugees along the Thai border and also in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

“President Reagan will take care of all my people on the border,” Ngor said he was assured. “He didn’t say he would let them all into the United States. But he will look for peace for those people in my country.”