Cambodia resumes UN tribunal talks

The Khmer Rouge staged a reign of terror in the 1970s

By Greg Barrow BBC United Nations correspondent

A Cambodian Government delegation has resumed negotiations with United Nations officials in New York over the establishment of a special court to try former members of the Khmer Rouge.

The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, withdrew UN support for the court last year amid concerns that it would not guarantee the necessary standards of independence, impartiality and objectivity.

Pol Pot oversaw the genocide

Mr Annan only agreed to new talks after members of the UN General Assembly passed a resolution in December requesting a resumption of negotiations to set up the court.

Officials at the United Nations are describing these negotiations as exploratory talks.

They are the first real contact with a Cambodian Government delegation since the UN pulled out of talks with Phnom Penh over the establishment of a war crimes tribunal early last year.

Fresh resolution

At issue is the structure and remit of a court that would try former members of the Khmer Rouge - those deemed responsible for the deaths of more than 1.5 million Cambodians during a reign of terror in the mid-1970s.

The UN has been intimately involved in the establishment of the new court, but withdrew its support over fears that the Cambodian Government could not meet the standards of justice demanded.

A key sticking point was an insistence by Phnom Penh that Cambodian national law would prevail over the court.

France, the United States and Japan have all supported the calls for renewed UN involvement in the court.

They fear that without UN support justice may never come to those responsible for a particularly violent episode in Cambodia's history.