About 200 veterans, maimed by the war in the Khmer Republic protested outside the President's Palace in Phnom Penh about their treatment by the Government.

The complained that their pension payments did not arrive regularly. Many said they have had no pension for several months - others that they have received only a fraction of what they were entitled to.

An Army private who is disabled receives the equivalent of 20 U.S. dollars (GBP8 sterling) a month pension. With prices spiralling in the besieged capital the pension is felt to be inadequate to keep even one person supplied with food and clothing.

A family of five would consume in normal times about 100 kilograms (220 pounds) a month. But that amount of rice in Phnom Penh now costs about 20 dollars (16 pounds sterling).

The President of the Khmer Republic, Marshal Lon Nol received spokesmen of the veterans inside Chamcar Mon Palace. The President said they could have land where a fish pond would be built for them - and other assistance would be given. He also promised to see that they got their pensions. The veterans, many of whom had lost a leg, an eye or a hand, cheered at the news and left quietly in taxi-buses.

The Cambodian war has lasted for three years already and there are 600,000 refugees as well as war disabled in Phnom Penh.