Thais helped Pol Pot flee government advance: Prime Minister
Thais helped Pol Pot flee government advance: Prime Minister
PHNOM PENH (AFP): Thailand helped Pol Pot, the leader of the notorious Khmer Rouge, to flee a recent government offensive on the radical faction's resource rich headquarters at Pailin in northwest Cambodia, co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh said yesterday.
"Thailand will not be happy with us but we have pictures to prove (it)," the prince told reporters during a break in the second session of parliament.
"I can show you a picture of Pol Pot, his house being attacked, and Pol Pot escaping with cars and a convoy of trucks driving on a tarmac road inside Thai territory," the prince said.
The prince was adamant that the shadowy guerrilla leader -- who was responsible for the Khmer Rouge's 1975 to 1979 reign of terror during which some one million Cambodians died of illness, starvation or execution -- escaped through Thai territory.
"It was not inside Cambodia. Cambodia does not have such good smooth roads in that region," he said.
He did not specify how the photos were obtained.
Government forces seized the rebel headquarters and the surrounding resource rich region March 19.
The Khmer Rouge financed their guerrilla organization by selling logging and mining concessions to primarily Thai business consortiums, many of which are believed to be controlled by or have links with the Thai military.
The Thai consortiums that were working in the Pailin area were eager for the government to honor contracts they signed with the guerrillas.
The prince, however, was evasive on this issue.
"Before talking about any kinds of contracts we need to have regional security from both sides ... we need to request that Thailand consider us as the one legitimate government," he said.
Although Bangkok has said it recognized the royal government and did not support the Khmer Rouge in any way, recent actions cast this into doubt.
Refugees
The prince criticized the Thai government for not consulting Phnom Penh about the fate of some 25,000 refugees, most of whom were the family members of guerrillas, who fled to Thailand from Pailin.
The government wanted Thailand to give the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the Red Cross access to the refugees in order to give them a choice whether they wanted to return to government or Khmer Rouge controlled areas in Cambodia.
"Where did the Thais send these people? They sent them to the place the Khmer Rouge decided they should go" the prince said.
The prince said he had "lowered himself" to meet with Khmer Rouge nominal leader Khieu Samphan to discuss a peace proposal put forward by his father King Norodom Sihanouk.
But while Khieu Samphan was expressing his support for the peace proposal, Khmer Rouge guerrillas attacked a former stronghold of the Prince's party in northwest Cambodia and burnt down 265 homes, he said.
"If we don't attack them they will attack us," the prince said, adding:
"But the government's stand is that the door is still open to the Khmer Rouge."
He said talks were still possible but they would have to take place in a different "mood" as the guerrillas had lost bargaining power since the government forces now controlled Pailin and had pushed the Khmer Rouge out of another major base at Anlong Veng in northern Cambodia.