Nate Thayer

Khmer Rouge leader returns, is beaten by Cambodian mob

 

Khmer Rouge leader returns, is beaten by Cambodian mob

Chicago Sun-Times

November 27, 1991 | Nate Thayer

Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia An angry mob screaming "Dog!" and "Murderer!" today surged past police and beat a top leader of the Khmer Rouge, the Communist guerrilla group whose reign of terror in the 1970s left hundreds of thousands dead.

The government ordered in armored personnel carriers to evacuate Khieu Samphan, the right-hand man to top Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, as the crowd prepared to lynch him. Khieu Samphan and Son Sen, another Khmer Rouge leader, and their aides were flown back to Bangkok, Thailand.

Bleeding from the head and chest, Khieu Samphan cowered in a bedroom as security officers prevented him from being strung up by a wire tied to a ceiling fan.

"Please help me, please don't leave me," he pleaded, asking three foreign photographers to say in the room.

Only hours earlier, Khieu Samphan ended his exile and returned to Phnom Penh to take part in a UN-backed plan to end 13 years of civil war between the Khmer Rouge, its two non-Communist guerrilla allies and the government Vietnam installed after invading Cambodia in 1978.

The attack delayed what would have been the first meeting of a national reconciliation council and appeared to jeopardize a UN-brokered peace accord signed last month in Paris by all four warring factions.

The government, in a statement carried by its official news agency, said it remained fully committed to the peace pact. Under the accord, a Supreme National Council led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk would help pave the way for elections in 1993.

More than 10,000 angry demonstrators converged on the villa housing the Khmer Rouge delegation today after the 60-year-old Khieu Samphan's return. Khieu Samphan was one of the prime architects of the Khmer Rouge's murderous regime, which killed hundreds of thousands of people as the group tried to turn the country into a vast rural commune. Khieu Samphan is now the group's president.

After storming and ransacking the villa, the mob broke into the second-story room where Khieu Samphan was hiding. Reporters saw him huddled against a wall, wearing a steel helmet and bleeding profusely. He apparently had been struck by a rock.

As thousands of protesters ringed the house, six government armored personnel carriers moved into position outside. One backed into the front entranceway and Khieu Samphan, with several other members of his delegation, clambered onto the back of the vehicle.

Khmer Rouge leader returns, is beaten by Cambodian mob

Khmer Rouge leader returns, is beaten by Cambodian mob

Chicago Sun-Times

November 27, 1991 | Nate Thayer

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia An angry mob screaming "Dog!" and "Murderer!" today surged past police and beat a top leader of the Khmer Rouge, the Communist guerrilla group whose reign of terror in the 1970s left hundreds of thousands dead.

The government ordered in armored personnel carriers to evacuate Khieu Samphan, the right-hand man to top Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, as the crowd prepared to lynch him. Khieu Samphan and Son Sen, another Khmer Rouge leader, and their aides were flown back to Bangkok, Thailand.

Bleeding from the head and chest, Khieu Samphan cowered in a bedroom as security officers prevented him from being strung up by a wire tied to a ceiling fan.

"Please help me, please don't leave me," he pleaded, asking three foreign photographers to say in the room.

Only hours earlier, Khieu Samphan ended his exile and returned to Phnom Penh to take part in a UN-backed plan to end 13 years of civil war between the Khmer Rouge, its two non-Communist guerrilla allies and the government Vietnam installed after invading Cambodia in 1978.

The attack delayed what would have been the first meeting of a national reconciliation council and appeared to jeopardize a UN-brokered peace accord signed last month in Paris by all four warring factions.

The government, in a statement carried by its official news agency, said it remained fully committed to the peace pact. Under the accord, a Supreme National Council led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk would help pave the way for elections in 1993.

More than 10,000 angry demonstrators converged on the villa housing the Khmer Rouge delegation today after the 60-year-old Khieu Samphan's return. Khieu Samphan was one of the prime architects of the Khmer Rouge's murderous regime, which killed hundreds of thousands of people as the group tried to turn the country into a vast rural commune. Khieu Samphan is now the group's president.

After storming and ransacking the villa, the mob broke into the second-story room where Khieu Samphan was hiding. Reporters saw him huddled against a wall, wearing a steel helmet and bleeding profusely. He apparently had been struck by a rock.

As thousands of protesters ringed the house, six government armored personnel carriers moved into position outside. One backed into the front entranceway and Khieu Samphan, with several other members of his delegation, clambered onto the back of the vehicle.

Cambodia has hope to rebuild in peace

Cambodia has hope to rebuild in peace

Chicago Sun-Times

November 17, 1991 | Nate Thayer

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia The return of exiled Prince Norodom Sihanouk after the signing of a peace accord kindles a desperate desire among Cambodians to rebuild their ruined land.

Sihanouk's emotional return Thursday to lead a national reconciliation council is filling the southeast Asian country with hope that peace may finally come after 21 years of war, genocide and famine.

Yet a halt in the fighting isn't enough, many say. Unless the ruined economy is infused with massive international aid, political stability will be elusive.

"Everyone is happy the war will stop,"said Sarouen Sok, a 24-year-old student. "But we need foreign aid to help us. We need to only spend money now that will rebuild our country."

Many are pinning their hopes for peace on the foreign troops that have started to arrive under the terms of a United Nations-brokered peace accord signed in Paris last month.

The treaty was signed by the Vietnamese-installed Cambodian government and the guerrilla groups that fought it for 13 years: the detested Khmer Rouge and two non-Communist factions.

Under the accord, the peacekeepers will monitor a cease-fire and help administer elections scheduled for 1993. Until then, the Phnom Penh government will rule the country, advised by the Sihanouk-led Supreme National Council made up of the four warring factions.

Since the first contingent of UN troops arrived from Australia this month, thousands of Phnom Penh residents have gathered to stare in wonder at their headquarters in the capital.

Many residents have expressed hope that the troops not only will help prevent renewed fighting but also will prevent a return to power of the Khmer Rouge, whose three-year rule starting in 1975 led to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Beyond peace, the wants of most Cambodians are simple. They would like to have enough rice to eat, decent medical care and a homeland free of the legacies of war, including the millions of land mines that remain planted throughout the countryside.

By almost every yardstick - per-capita income, child mortality, disease - the country is among the world's most deprived nations.

Analysts and officials say that if the economic conditions aren't addressed, instability will continue.

"If people are hungry, they will be in bad temper," Deputy Foreign Minister Long Visulo said in a recent interview. "If people are full, the situation will be calm. Foreign investment and economic development will help us solve the political problems."

Yet many Cambodians also worry about the new interim council, since its members are a bitter reminder of the failed leadership of the past.