News about Pol Pot - Son Sen

[Son Tran <stran@shrike.depaul.edu>]

                     Pol Pot reportedly on the run
                     after slaughter

                     June 13, 1997
                     
                     PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN)
                     -- The notorious and ailing Pol
                     Pot, who led Cambodia's now disintegrating Khmer Rouge
                     movement during its brutal "killing fields" rule in the
late 1970s,                      was
                     believed to be on the run with followers on Friday
after ordering a
                     new mass slaughter. This time, however, it's Khmer
Rouge guerrillas
                     who reportedly are killing one another. 

                     First Premier Norodom Ranariddh said Pol Pot fled
Anlong Veng, his
                     stronghold in northern Cambodia, after ordering the
execution of                      the
                     Khmer Rouge defense chief and his family. Khmer Rouge
guerrillas
                     shot Son Sen, his wife and children, then drove a
vehicle over                      them,
                     crushing their heads, Ranariddh told reporters, adding
that he has
                     photographic evidence of the killings. 



                     'Running over the dead with a truck'

                                    Ranariddh, who is co-premier of
Cambodia, did
                                    not release the pictures, but Western
diplomatic
                                    sources verified his claim.

                                    "Mr. Pol Pot had accused Son Sen of being
                                    allied with Second Prime Minister Hun
Sen, so
                                    on the 10th of June at 2 a.m., he killed
Son Sen
                                    and 11 of his family members very brutally,
                                    very cruelly, by shooting them and running
                     over the dead with a truck," said Ranariddh. 

                     Both Ranariddh and Hun Sen have been trying to woo
breakaway
                     Khmer Rouge rebels ahead of national elections expected
to be held
                     next year. 

                     Ranariddh said Pol Pot -- who is reported to have
malaria -- was
                     carried off by his men in a sling because he was too
sick to move
                     quickly. 

                           CNN's Bangkok Bureau Chief Tom Mintier
                              reports on the situation in Cambodia
                                    AIFF or WAV (288K / 23 sec. audio)
                                    The Khmer Rouge ends its reign
                                    AIFF or WAV (256K / 18 sec. audio)
                                   The fate of Khmer Rouge leadership


                     Ranariddh said Pol Pot has fled Anlong Veng with 200
guerrillas and
                     some hostages. They are believed to be headed toward
the borders
                     of Thailand and China. Both nations have said the Khmer
Rouge are
                     not welcome. 

                     Khmer rouge breakup

                     Ranariddh's announcement came amid persistent reports
in recent
                     days of conflict between Pol Pot, Son Sen and Khieu
Samphan, a
                     senior Khmer Rouge official seen as a frontman for the
group. 

                     Government officials say the split is between a few
hundred Pol Pot
                     loyalists and a breakaway group of nearly 2,000 other
Khmer Rouge
                     guerrillas believed to have defected to the Phnom Penh
government. 

                     The Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979 in a brutal,
                     Maoist regime blamed for the deaths of 2 million Cambodians
                     through overwork, starvation, beatings and executions.
Pol Pot is
                     wanted by the Cambodian government and the World Court on
                     charges of genocide. 

                     Khmer Rouge rebels, who reneged
                     on a 1991 peace pact, have been
                     fighting a low-intensity war against
                     the Cambodian coalition government
                     formed after U.N.-sponsored
                     elections in 1993. 

                     The guerrilla movement began
                     unraveling last August when a senior
                     rebel, Ieng Sary, broke with
                     hardliners and eventually forged peace with the
government. 

                     Since then, thousands of rebels have defected to
government ranks. 

                     Bangkok Bureau Chief Tom Mintier and Reuters
contributed to this
                     report.