Ta Mok, one of the main leaders of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge who was expected to be a key defendant in a trial of top regime figures, seen here in a March 1999 photo released by the Cambodian military intelligence department, has died aged 80, his lawyer said.(AFP/HO/File)Friday Jul 21, 2006
AAP (Australia)
Former Khmer Rouge military leader Ta Mok died of a heart ailment early on Friday morning before he could be tried for crimes against humanity by the recently established Cambodia-UN tribunal.
Ta Mok, 80, died at 5.05am at a military hospital in Phnom Penh, doctors said.
He had been detained in a military prison in Phnom Penh since he was captured in 1999 in Anlong Veng, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold near the Thai border.
Ta Mok is believed to have directed massive, bloody purges when Cambodia was under Khmer Rouge rule in the late 1970s. Even after the regime was overthrown in 1979, he remained a powerful figure, controlling the northern area of the Khmer Rouge's remaining territory.
Cambodia and the United Nations have joined to establish a tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge leaders, who are blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians.
Besides Ta Mok, only one other senior Khmer Rouge leader - Kaing Gech Ieu, better known as Duch, who ran a torture centre in Phnom Penh - is in custody. Three other surviving leaders - Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea - live freely in Cambodia.
While no date has yet been set, both Cambodia and the United Nations have stated that the trial will take place in the middle of next year. The deterioration of Ta Mok's health came just days after tribunal prosecutors had started their work.
AAP (Australia)
Former Khmer Rouge military leader Ta Mok died of a heart ailment early on Friday morning before he could be tried for crimes against humanity by the recently established Cambodia-UN tribunal.
Ta Mok, 80, died at 5.05am at a military hospital in Phnom Penh, doctors said.
He had been detained in a military prison in Phnom Penh since he was captured in 1999 in Anlong Veng, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold near the Thai border.
Ta Mok is believed to have directed massive, bloody purges when Cambodia was under Khmer Rouge rule in the late 1970s. Even after the regime was overthrown in 1979, he remained a powerful figure, controlling the northern area of the Khmer Rouge's remaining territory.
Cambodia and the United Nations have joined to establish a tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge leaders, who are blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians.
Besides Ta Mok, only one other senior Khmer Rouge leader - Kaing Gech Ieu, better known as Duch, who ran a torture centre in Phnom Penh - is in custody. Three other surviving leaders - Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea - live freely in Cambodia.
While no date has yet been set, both Cambodia and the United Nations have stated that the trial will take place in the middle of next year. The deterioration of Ta Mok's health came just days after tribunal prosecutors had started their work.
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