Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk refused yesterday to endorse a government amnesty to two former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, Mr Khieu Samphan and Mr Nuon Chea, who abandoned their guerrilla war last week.
The king, citing the will of the "large and undeniable" majority of the Cambodian people, threw his weight behind a proposed international tribunal for the two men. This is a major blow to the Prime Minister, Mr Hun Sen, and his policy of "bury the past."
"Such a tribunal has the perfect right to judge the affair of genocide in Cambodia because it was a crime against humanity," said King Sihanouk. "This comes under the conscience of the people of the world."
Mr Khieu Samphan - Pol Pot's public face - apologised yesterday for his part in the genocide under Khmer Rouge rule in the 1970s which left up to two million Cambodians dead from torture, overwork and starvation.
He appealed for Cambodia to heal the wounds of the past and said: "Let bygones be bygones."
But the king said: "Taking into account the very large and undeniable discontent of the majority of the Khmer people, I announce to this majority that I respect them and that I will not renew my granting of an amnesty to the big Khmer Rouge criminals who are against the Cambodian people.
"From now on, I am leaving it to Prime Minister Hun Sen to take all the responsibility for handling this unhappy and dramatic affair to accord a pardon to the Khmer Rouge," he added.
Several of the king's children were killed during Pol Pot's rule and he was kept under house arrest for more than two years in the royal palace in Phnom Penh.
In July 1996, at the request of the then co-premiers, Mr Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the king issued an amnesty for the former Khmer Rouge number three, Mr Ieng Sary, when he left the guerrilla movement.
The king's comments undermine Mr Hun Sen, who negotiated the defections and claims they are to the benefit of "national reconciliation."
The statement came amid mounting pressure from the US to put rebel leaders on trial, while Mr Hun Sen called for them to be greeted with flowers and not threats for the sake of national reconciliation.
The former UN secretary-general, Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali - who is visiting Cambodia as head of the Francophone movement and who met Mr Khieu Samphan yesterday - said it was an internal matter for Cambodia.
Mr Khieu Samphan and Mr Nuon Chea were due to go sightseeing on their second day as free men in the Cambodian capital.
"They will do some sight-seeing, and maybe soon they will go to the beach at Sihanoukville for swimming and that kind of thing," a close aide to Mr Khieu Samphan said. On Tuesday the former rebel leaders gave the first public apology for the deaths and suffering imposed by the regime.