Phnom Penh (dpa) - A disgraced former Cambodian police chief wanted for two assassinations and three attempted murders has been deported from Singapore to neighbouring Malaysia, again thwarting attempts by Cambodia to have him returned, local media said Sunday.
Khmer-language newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea reported Cambodian officials Sunday as saying they were not being kept informed of developments regarding former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov, but believed he was now in Malaysia.
The newspaper quoted Cambodian deputy chief of Interpol, Keo Van Thon, as saying he had not yet received any official update on the matter and could not confirm the news until Monday.
However Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told Rasmei that he could confirm Heng Pov was now in Malaysia, but that the Malaysian authorities had pledged to cooperate with Cambodia to find, arrest and deport him.
He did not explain how such a high profile fugitive could have crossed the border from Singapore despite an international Interpol alert being in effect for him and be stamped in by Malaysian authorities.
Interviewed on local radio, Heng Pov's family disputed government claims and said he was in Malaysia but had traveled there with the support of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and was now safe and awaiting asylum in a third country.
Singapore's Straits Times newspaper reported Saturday that Heng Pov was arrested on Friday for overstaying and sent back to Cambodia after he was handed over to immigration officials.
Formerly one of Cambodia's most powerful policemen, an undersecretary of state in the interior ministry and an advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen, Heng Pov fled to Singapore in late July. He sought asylum in Australia, but was turned down.
Cambodian officials have guaranteed his safety if returned, countering his claims that if he is handed over he will be killed, and have derided his claims that he has information that would implicate the government in high-level killings and that he will be denied a fair trial in Cambodia as attempts to garner sympathy.
Heng Pov is wanted for allegedly masterminding the April 2003 murder of Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Sok Sethamony, who was shot in his car as he drove to work along a busy street.
Pov has also been linked to failed assassination attempts against a newspaper publisher, an electricity authority official and the national military police chief, the report said.
Heng Pov faces life imprisonment if convicted in Cambodia, which does not have the death penalty.
Khmer-language newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea reported Cambodian officials Sunday as saying they were not being kept informed of developments regarding former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov, but believed he was now in Malaysia.
The newspaper quoted Cambodian deputy chief of Interpol, Keo Van Thon, as saying he had not yet received any official update on the matter and could not confirm the news until Monday.
However Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told Rasmei that he could confirm Heng Pov was now in Malaysia, but that the Malaysian authorities had pledged to cooperate with Cambodia to find, arrest and deport him.
He did not explain how such a high profile fugitive could have crossed the border from Singapore despite an international Interpol alert being in effect for him and be stamped in by Malaysian authorities.
Interviewed on local radio, Heng Pov's family disputed government claims and said he was in Malaysia but had traveled there with the support of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and was now safe and awaiting asylum in a third country.
Singapore's Straits Times newspaper reported Saturday that Heng Pov was arrested on Friday for overstaying and sent back to Cambodia after he was handed over to immigration officials.
Formerly one of Cambodia's most powerful policemen, an undersecretary of state in the interior ministry and an advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen, Heng Pov fled to Singapore in late July. He sought asylum in Australia, but was turned down.
Cambodian officials have guaranteed his safety if returned, countering his claims that if he is handed over he will be killed, and have derided his claims that he has information that would implicate the government in high-level killings and that he will be denied a fair trial in Cambodia as attempts to garner sympathy.
Heng Pov is wanted for allegedly masterminding the April 2003 murder of Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Sok Sethamony, who was shot in his car as he drove to work along a busy street.
Pov has also been linked to failed assassination attempts against a newspaper publisher, an electricity authority official and the national military police chief, the report said.
Heng Pov faces life imprisonment if convicted in Cambodia, which does not have the death penalty.
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