Leader of Khmer Rouge acknowledges regime to blame for genocide

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- A former Khmer Rouge leader expected to face a U.N. tribunal acknowledged Tuesday there is "no more doubt left" that his regime committed genocide, the first admission of the communist group's collective guilt.

Khieu Samphan's surprising statement in an interview with The Associated Press is a major step in the long overdue effort to bring to justice those responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians during the ultra-leftist group's 1975-79 rule.

Many of the victims were executed; the rest died of starvation, disease and overwork in the Khmer Rouge's attempt to create an agrarian utopia. Now, with an agreement on a tribunal earlier this month between U.N. and Cambodian officials, ex-Khmer Rouge leaders should soon face charges for the first time.

A former head of state and one of the few top Khmer Rouge leaders still alive, Khieu Samphan, 72, is certain to be indicted. Speaking by telephone from his home, he apparently hoped to begin giving his version of Cambodia's bloody history before his likely prosecution for genocide and crimes against humanity.

He insisted he never ordered any killings -- and claimed he only learned from a documentary two months ago about the extent of the Khmer Rouge's crimes.

"Everything has to go the trial's way now, and there's no other way," he said. "I have to prepare myself not to let the time pass away. But I also want the public to understand about me, too. I was not involved in any killings."

Until Tuesday, none of the Khmer Rouge's top leaders had publicly accepted that the government committed genocide.

Documentary on prison

But Khieu Samphan said he realized he could no longer ignore the Khmer Rouge's atrocities after he saw a documentary about the notorious S-21 prison, presented to him by a Cambodian-French filmmaker, Rithy Pan.

"When I saw the film, it was hard for me to deny the killings. There's no more doubt left," said Khieu Samphan, who lives in Pailin, 175 miles northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.

"I was surprised, because I never thought the regime went to that extent in its policies. S-21 was in the middle of Phnom Penh. It was clearly a state institution. It was part of the regime."

Until he saw the film, he said he had reserved his judgment about the prison's existence and atrocities.

As many as 16,000 people are believed to have passed through the gates of the infamous prison but only 14 are thought to have survived. The prison is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

None of the Khmer Rouge's surviving leadership has faced justice. Many are infirm but -- like Khieu Samphan -- live and move freely in the country. Pol Pot, the regime's supremo, died in 1998.

After five years of negotiations, U.N. and Cambodian officials tentatively agreed this month on steps to set up the tribunal. But the court's creation has been delayed by a lack of funds and by political instability after Cambodia's inconclusive general elections left three parties jostling to create a coalition.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to launch an appeal in early February for contributions toward the tribunal's $40 million operating budget. Sok An, the Cambodian government's chief negotiator for setting up the court, has said its formalization will be "addressed immediately" once a new legislature is formed.

The other senior leader expected to face trial is Nuon Chea, the former Khmer Rouge's ideologue, who also lives in Pailin. He and Khieu Samphan surrendered to the government in December 1998, just a few months before the capture of Ta Mok, the former Khmer Rouge army chief, which capped the final collapse of the movement.

Ta Mok and Kaing Khek Iev, the S-21 prison's chief, are now in prison.