Cambodia has invited a UN team to Phnom Penh for a second round of talks aimed at establishing special courts to try former leaders of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, the United Nations said this afternoon.
UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan has accepted the invitation, proposing that negotiations begin either later this week or at the beginning of March, UN spokesman Mr Hua Jiang said.
"The secretary-general is now waiting for a reply from Prime Minister Mr Hun Sen informing him which of these dates would be the most convenient for the government of Cambodia," the spokeswoman said.
Cambodia's invitation to begin the talks arrived last Thursday and Annan answered it the following day, she said.
The Khmer Rouge is accused of ruling through torture, execution, hard labor and starvation in Cambodia's "killing fields" while in power from 1975 through 1979.
An estimated 1.7 million people died under its rule. Yet no Khmer Rouge leader has faced trial for crimes during that period.
The United Nations had ended involvement in the project a year ago after five years of negotiations, concluding that the special courts as envisioned by Phnom Penh could not guarantee fair and unbiased trials.
But it resumed negotiations last month at the request of the 191-nation UN General Assembly, which feared aging Khmer Rouge leaders would never be brought to justice.
The assembly has asked Mr Annan to report back to it by March 18th on any progress.