Phnom Penh - A Thai minister said yesterday that Cambodia's notorious Khmer Rouge guerrilla leader, Pol Pot, had left Cambodia, but government officials in Phnom Penh could not confirm the report.
Thai Foreign Minister, Mr Surin Pitsuwan, said he could not confirm recent newspaper reports that Pol Pot had fled to China to avoid facing an international court for his crimes against humanity. More than one million Cambodians died of murder, overwork, disease or starvation during Pol Pot's 1975-79 regime and the UN is examining how he might be brought to justice. He was sentenced to life under house arrest at a show trial in July at the guerrillas' headquarters.
Last night CNN reported a denial by the Chinese government that Pol Pot was being treated in a Beijing hospital.