Khieu Samphan arrested by genocide tribunal

November 19, 2007

Cambodia police have arrested the Khmer Rouge's former head of state, Khieu Samphan, and brought him to a UN-backed genocide tribunal.

The ex-leader was detained after being discharged from a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh.

He is the fifth person to be targeted by the court, set up to bring surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge to justice.

More than one million people are thought to have died between 1975 and 1979 under the brutal Maoist regime.

Last week, the tribunal charged former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and wife Ieng Thirith, the former social affairs minister, with crimes against humanity.

Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's second-in command, Nuon Chea, and Kang Kek Ieu (Duch), the head of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, are also facing charges.