PHNOM PENH, July 14: Cambodia's royalist Funcinpec party, vanquished on the battlefield last week, remained in disarray yesterday as life in Phnom Penh resumed a semblance of normality.

Only 10 members of the 33-strong Funcinpec steering committee remain in the country after the second Prime Minister, Hun Sen effectively ousted the royalist President, First Prime Minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, sending hundreds of royalists fleeing the country for their lives.

Popular former resistance leader Toan Chhay, tapped by Hun Sen as the favorite to replace the prince at the top of the shattered royalist party, continued to meet with remaining Funcinpec members but no major decisions have yet been reached, officials said.

The remaining members of the steering committee issued a statement on the party letterhead which still has a portrait of the prince in the center, saying that party members had been "dispersed" following the fighting.

``Until this date, we have been unable to gather and formulate a plan for the future,'' the statement said. ``The situation requires that Funcinpec immediately resolves many issues and works hard for the continuity and viability of the party''.

Toan Chhay said that he would be making a radio announcement appealing for Funcinpec troops to end their resistance in the North, where royalist forces have been beaten back at least 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the provincial capital of Siem Reap.

``The announcement will be to stop the fighting,'' he said, adding there would be no word on possible changes in the party leadership. At least 10 senior Funcinpec officials gathered on Monday at a downtown pagoda to attend a memorial service for those who died in last weekend's bloody street battles in the capital, and for Hor Sok, one of the prince's top security aides, who was killed in custody after being arrested by Hun Sen's forces. There was a growing sense of resentment against both Hun Sen and the absent royalist leadership, including Prince Ranariddh, who is now abroad attempting to drum up support for sanctions against the ``new'' government among at least some of the mourners at the temple.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.