Cambodia after Pol Pot

After more than 30 years of fighting and killing, the hated Khmer Rouge are reportedly in complete disarray and their supreme leader, Pol Pot, is said to be fleeing for his life. That is surely welcome news for a country where more than a million people died under Khmer Rouge rule two decades ago and where ordinary Cambodians have endured the group's guerrilla attacks ever since.

But it is too soon to celebrate. Even if the reports turn out to be true, Cambodia has a long way to go before it even approaches democracy and a decent respect for human rights. Even now, the country's two rival co-prime ministers are eagerly courting the loyalty of Pol Pot's former lieutenants. This is not a good sign.

Cambodia's two main parties are the royalists, led by first prime minister, Prince Ranariddh, and the former Communist Party, led by the second prime minister, Hun Sen. Apart from their courtship of some of Pol Pot's closest associates, neither man has clean hands regarding the Khmer Rouge. Hun Sen was a Khmer Rouge leader before turning against his comrades in the late 1970s. Prince Ranariddh was a close Khmer Rouge coalition partner in the 1980s.

The two men barely speak, do not cooperate and spend much of their time maneuvering against each other. Between them, they have created a climate of corruption and intimidation. Less compromised politicians, like Sam Rainsy, have been physically attacked. The press is hemmed in by restrictive laws and threats. The integrity of next year's elections is now in doubt.

These issues, along with the dismaying prospect of former Khmer Rouge leaders entering the government, should be discussed frankly by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright when she visits Phnom Penh later this month.

Pol Pot's rule killed more than one in seven Cambodians. His political demise would be widely and enthusiastically welcomed. But Cambodia's full recovery from that horrific era remains a long way off.

-- The New York Times