BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | Khmer Rouge commander buried (original) (raw)

A former Khmer Rouge commander, who is alleged to have been involved in mass killings in the 1970s, has been buried in Cambodia.

General Ke Pauk died on Friday, after a long illness.

He was one of several Khmer Rouge leaders considered possible candidates to appear before a proposed tribunal for crimes against humanity.

But the mayor of Anlong Veng, Ke Pauk's home town, described him as a national hero.

The Documentation Centre for Cambodia, which has been gathering evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities, has said Ke Pauk's death underlined the need to bring the group's surviving leaders to justice as quickly as possible.

The United Nations recently pulled out of talks with the Cambodian Government on a planned Khmer Rouge tribunal, because it was not satisfied that it would be impartial.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service