New arrest in mine clearer death

A fourth former Khmer Rouge soldier has been charged for his role in the 1996 kidnapping and murder of North Somerset mine clearer Christopher Howes.

Sin Dorn was charged with premeditated murder over the death of Mr Howes and his Cambodian translator Huon Huot.

Mr Howes, who was 37, was given the chance to leave his kidnapped team of 20 mine clearers to retrieve a ransom, but refused.

The team was eventually released but Mr Howes and Huon Huot were killed.

Mr Howes' remains were found in 1998.

He and the group were seized near the Angkor Wat temples in northwest Cambodia.

At the time the communist Khmer Rouge was battling government troops in the final years of Cambodia's drawn-out civil war.

Sin Dorn has also been charged with illegal confinement of Christopher Howes and his translator and with being a member of rebel forces.

In November, three other former communist rebels - Khem Ngun, Loch Mao, and Cheap Chet - were arrested and received the same charges over the deaths of Mr Howes and his translator, Huon Huot.

No trial date has been set.

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