France's Finance Minister, Edouard Balladur, departing early tonight, was asked if the Paris accord remained in effect.

The ministry responded a day later with one sentence stating that the Paris accord should be carried out and the four factions treated equally.

"I dont think any country wants to step out ahead and take the lead, partly because the Paris accords prevent that to a certain extent," the official said.

Time is running out on the implementation of the Paris accord.

They may delay the departures until after the Paris accords are signed, when international attention turns elsewhere.

"What we have been doing over the past few days conforms with the Paris accord and had been carried out under the supervision of the agency," he added.

They did so in the Paris accord.

The uncertainty over the details of the Paris accord, however, has been a major cause of the volatility in the markets, economists said.

Since the Paris accord, traders say, political factors suggest that all is not right with the arrangement and that the dollar will have to fall further.

All told, at least 10,000 Khmer Rouge soldiers and officials have defected to the Government since the Paris accords of 1991.