A newspaper in Thailand, the Bangkok Post, says it has found the former Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, in northern Cambodia, despite reports that he had left the country.

The newspaper says its reporter spoke to Pol Pot after travelling along the Thai border to the Khmer Rouge base at Anlong Veng, where Pol Pot was still being held captive.

According to the newspaper, he was trembling and his voice was barely audible.

The Bangkok Post says Pol Pot remains under house arrest in the jungles of northern Cambodia. His former comrades in the Khmer Rouge are keeping him under close watch and have no plans to hand him over to the international community.

They told the newspaper that, although Pol Pot was in detention, it was their duty to protect him.

Pol Pot was removed from the leadership of the Khmer Rouge last year, after a vicious power struggle in the guerrilla movement.

He was then placed under house arrest and publicly denounced by his former comrades. In a brief interview with the Bangkok Post, Pol Pot admitted that his political life was now over.

Reports emerged in two Cambodian newspapers last week that Pol Pot had left the Khmer Rouge base and fled to China, but they were immediately denied by the Chinese authorities.

The BBC's correspondent in Bangkok, Enver Solomon, says it is difficult to independently confirm the exact whereabouts of the former guerrilla leader, but the Khmer Rouge have consistently made it clear that they want to keep Pol Pot in detention.

He says the guerrillas want to have some kind of role in mainstream Cambodian politics. They are well aware that handing over Pol Pot to face international scrutiny would ultimately damage their chances of political revival.

During Pol Pot's four-year rule in Cambodia in the late 1970's, an estimated two million people are believed to have died from torture, hunger and disease.
 

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