Two Pol Pot aides held by genocide tribunal

Police and security guards from Cambodia8217;s 8220;Killing Fields8221; tribunal arrested former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary on Monday...

Police and security guards from Cambodia8217;s 8220;Killing Fields8221; tribunal arrested former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary on Monday, the third Pol Pot henchman to be taken into custody by the UN-backed court.

The octogenarian, who became the international face of the Beijing-backed ultra-Maoist revolution after it was overthrown by a 1979 Vietnamese invasion, will be charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, a tribunal statement said.

His wife, Ieng Thirith, another member of Pol Pot8217;s inner circle and the sister of Pol Pot8217;s first wife, Khieu Ponnary, was also arrested to face charges of crimes against humanity. Ieng Thirith, part of the small circle of French-educated intellectuals who formed the leadership of Cambodia8217;s Khmer Rouge, has become the first woman detained by a genocide tribunal seeking justice for the group8217;s atrocities.

Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, who had lived in a luxury Phnom Penh villa since cutting a deal and surrendering to the Government in 1996, were detained soon after dawn, then whisked away in a police convoy with sirens blazing.

An estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died of torture, disease or starvation under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979.

Ieng Sary has denied having anything to do with the atrocities but spent much of the 1980s defending Pol Pot at the United Nations while remnants of his black-shirted guerrilla army continued to fight from the jungle.

He and Ieng Thirith are the third and fourth senior cadres to be arrested since the 56 million tribunal got off the ground in earnest this year after almost a decade of delays.

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Duch, who ran the 8220;S-218221; interrogation and torture centre at Phnom Penh8217;s former Tuol Sleng high school, has been charged with crimes against humanity, as has 8220;Brother Number Two8221; Nuon Chea, who is also accused of war crimes.

While Nuon Chea has proclaimed his innocence, Duch has confessed to his role in the mass killings and is expected to be a key witness against other senior regime figures.