PHNOM PENH - A Cambodian general says he met the former Khmer Rouge tyrant, Pol Pot, yesterday at a remote guerrilla base, and that he would be handed over by his captors to the government "soon". But in the absence of independent confirmation his report left diplomats still in doubt.
"Pol Pot is still alive, I met him this morning," Gen Nhek Bunchhay said, reporting what was the first official sighting of the exguerrilla chief, unseen in public for 17 years and wanted by the government to stand trial for genocide.
His comment came after days of contradictory statements by Cambodia's two prime ministers and feverish speculation in Phnom Penh over the whereabouts of the long hidden guerrilla chief and whether he was even alive. Gen Bunchhay, who is singlehandedly pursuing contacts with dissident Khmer Rouge in a bid to prise the 69 year old tyrant from their control, did not speak to Pol Pot and failed to return with any photographic evidence.