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![]() Thursday, April 16, 1998 Published at 20:08 GMT 21:08 UK ![]() ![]() ![]() World: Asia-Pacific ![]() Pol Pot dead ![]() The deathbed of the man believed to be Pol Pot
His body was shown to journalists in a village in western Cambodia near the Thai border and, after initial scepticism, they said they were confident it was Pol Pot.
The journalists reported that the body appeared to be fresh and showed no
apparent signs of wounds or injury.
Pol Pot's wife and daughter, along with a handful of other mourners and a small
group of guerrillas, were the only people present. The journalists say there
was a sombre mood.
He is due to be cremated in three days' time.
He was recently under house arrest after being deposed by dissidents in the movement.
Henry Kissinger, who served as secretary of state when America bombed Cambodia, told the BBC earlier he thought the Khmer Rouge might have killed Pol Pot to avoid handing him over for trial abroad.
"Because if (he was) alive, there would be international
pressure to extradite him, and that, to refuse that would have
outlawed the Khmer Rouge even more."
'Timely' death
In recent weeks the Khmer Rouge has suffered a wave of defections to the government side.
Thousands of weary guerillas have been willing to give up their struggle.
According to the BBC's correspondent in the region, Enver Solomon, the death of Pol Pot would be extremely convenient for the remaining hardcore group of guerillas.
They could then attempt to carve out a political role for themselves, free of the man who is widely regarded as one of the most brutal leaders the world has ever seen.
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