CAMBODIANS yesterday were delighted with news that the Khmer Rouge guerrilla leader, Pol Pot, had surrendered to his former comrades and warned of revenge from the families of his many victims.
Clandestine Khmer Rouge radio, which is now apparently in the hands of a faction which broke with the reviled guerrilla commander earlier this month, reported that Pol Pot had turned himself in to the faction. The radio gave no details as to his fate or whereabouts but political leaders in Phnom Penh said if the report were true, Pol Pot should be brought to the capital and put on trial. But rumours of the ailing Pol Pot's whereabouts and even his death have flourished before.
Up to two million Cambodians died during Pol Pot's 1975-79 rule. Many were worked to death or died of starvation while countless others were executed as enemies of his Maoist revolution.
Meanwhile Cambodia's Second Prime Minister, Mr Hun Sen, issued an ultimatum to his coprime minister, telling him he had to choose between working together or siding with the Khmer Rouge. The warning, which followed fighting overnight in the capital's streets between forces loyal to both prime ministers, was expected to put more strain on the already bitter ties between Mr Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh. Two bodyguards from Prince Ranariddh's FUNCINPEC party were killed in a heavy 99 minute exchange of automatic weapon fire and rocket propelled grenades on Tuesday night.
In Washington, the United States declared its opposition to a role in national politics for Khmer Rouge guerrillas. The US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, was reported to be rethinking her plans to visit the country next week.
"Since this issue of the Khmer Rouge is so prevalent in this crisis, the United States would be gravely concerned if senior Khmer Rouge leaders were permitted to play a role in Cambodian national politics or permitted to retain administrative control over areas occupied by Khmer Rouge defectors. .. That's an important statement about our own view of how the situation should proceed" the State Department spokesman, Mr Nicholas Burns, said.
The reported surrender of the Khmer Rouge leader heralds the end of the murderous career of one of the world's most psychotic tyrants, but precise details of his life remain shrouded in mystery.
He is thought to be 69 but his exact date of birth is not clear, few photographs of him exist, and even reports of his capture, have been met with extreme caution.
Born Saloth Sar - Pol Pot was a nom de guerre - the fledgling tyrant grew up in a relatively prosperous farming family in Kompong Thong province, the heartland of the then French protectorate.
The Khmer Rouge government fell in 1979 when Vietnam invaded Cambodia after a series of violent border confrontations.