CAMBODIA: LEADER HUN SEN REJECTS POL POT'S GENOCIDE CLAIM UPDATE

(23 Oct 1997) Eng/Khmer/Nat
Cambodian leader Hun Sen has vehemently rejected Pol Pot's claim that he was not responsible for the genocide in Cambodia.
On Thursday, Hun Sen challenged journalists to ask the people of Cambodia who they believed if they had any doubts.
Hun Sen added that he was hoping to arrest the leader of the infamous "Killing Fields" by the end of the year.
Cambodian leader Hun Sen's helicopter touched down in Siem Reap near the temple of Angkor Watt for a meeting with King Norodom Sihanouk.
And like the rest of the Cambodian people, Hun Sen had one thing on his mind -- Pol Pot.
The former Cambodian dictator, accused of being one of the century's greatest mass-murderers, says his conscience is clear.
In his first interview for nearly 20 years, obtained exclusively by APTV, Pol Pot admitted to "mistakes" during the three-year regime of the Khmer Rouge but denied that (m) millions had died.
Following Thursday's meeting with King Norodom Sihanouk, Hun Sen rejected Pol Pot's assertions outright.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"You can ask the people of Cambodia whether Poll Pot killed the people of Khmer. You can ask these people, these Khmer people. Ask them. Did he kill the people or not? (Gestures towards his chest.) Not me."
SUPER CAPTION: Hun Sen
Cambodian leader Hun Sen is a one-time Khmer Rouge guerrilla who fled to Vietnam to escape bloody purges and came back to lead a Hanoi-backed regime in the 1980s.
Khieu Samphan, the nominal Khmer Rouge leader, said recently that Pol Pot would be turned over to a tribunal only when Hun Sen is - meaning never.
Pol Pot has been under house arrest since losing a bloody power struggle in June.
In the streets of Siem Reap, people watched in disbelief as newspapers delivered the news of Pol Pot's denial.
SOUNDBITE: (Khmer)
"Pol Pot didn't kill them himself, but he ordered his men to do it. The government should take him to court. "
SUPER CAPTION: Chhoun Chre, Vox Pop
Some residents, like Barang Sok, had first hand experience with the brutal regime, and were aghast at Pol Pot's claims.
SOUNDBITE: (Khmer)
"I don't believe it (what's in the headlines). Everyone in Cambodia knows that Pol Pot killed many many people and used them to work in the fields and if they didn't support him then they had no food. My family was killed by Pol Pot in 1975."
SUPER CAPTION: Barang Sok, Vox Pop
There was no mention of what was discussed during the meeting between Hun Sen and the King.
But a defiant Hung Sen also told reporters he intends to capture the Khmer rouge base and arrest Pol Pot as soon as the fighting season begins again in December.
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[@Stevenator1210]

He also speaks English very well !

[@robertbruce7572]

Hun Sen = Student and Follower of Pol Pot.

[@theranredguardist1949]

He's an obedient Vietnamese and Chinese dog

[@EngPheniks]

Well, he defected and joined the Vietnamese