Cambodian police detain former Khmer Rouge foreign minister ahead of trial
Published: Monday, November 12, 2007 | 12:39 AM ET
Canadian Press: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Police detained the former foreign minister of the brutal 1970s Khmer Rouge regime and his wife and brought them to Cambodia's United Nations-backed genocide tribunal Monday to face charges, a tribunal spokesman said.

Ieng Sary, 77, and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who served the regime as a minister for social affairs, were brought to offices of the tribunal's co-investigating judges in Phnom Penh under warrants issued for both of them, said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath.



A police convoy takes former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, head to the Khmer Rouge tribunal headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Heng Sinith) The radical policies of the communist Khmer Rouge, who held power in 1975-79, are widely blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution. None of the group's leaders have faced trial yet.

Both are accused of involvement in the slayings of political opponents, according to documents from prosecutors seen by The Associated Press.

Police detained the couple at their Phnom Penh residence at dawn. Officers later brought them to tribunal offices.

The arrests of Ieng Sary and his wife had been widely anticipated, as they were believed to be two of five unnamed suspects earlier listed by tribunal prosecutors. Two others have already been taken into custody.

The tribunal was created last year after seven years of contentious negotiations between the UN and Cambodia.