Relief workers said today that the UN agency will provide 750 tons of rice to the former guerrillas and their families, many of whom are suffering malnutrition at their makeshift refugee camp in Obaitap, 50 km south of the former rebel stronghold of Anlong Veng.

Tinned fish, vegetable oil and salt will also be distributed. The Cambodian Red Cross, which will act in partnership with the WFP to distribute the food, said the refugees are living in squalor and lack food, water, medicine and shelter.

``The situation is very bad,'' said Uy Samath, the Red Cross director of disaster management. ``There is a lot of malnutrition. People are also suffering from diarrhea, fever and malaria,'' he added.

The World Food Programme will provide sufficient food rations to needyrefugees for at least 20 days, Uy Samath said. He further added, aid workers will also help the refugees return to Anlong Veng, now in government hands, so they can begin to rebuild their lives.

The defection from Anlong Veng in late March allowed the government army to capture what was the chief base of Khmer Rouge leader Ta Mok, leader of the last group of rebels fighting the Phnom Penh government.