 |
Khmer Rouge rebels, however, refused to cooperate and attacked UNTAC forces in 1992; the ruling party in Phnom Penh was torn by factionalism. Major clashes occurred in Batdambang province in the west, where Khmer Rouge rebels gave up their bases in Pailin and Phnom Malai without fighting in 1996; Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge began to disintegrate in its hidden jungle exile...Weakened by mass defections, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge turned against their leader, replaced him with Ta Mok
(Pol Pot's longtime comrade), and later in 1997, in a show trial in the jungle, sentenced Pol Pot to house arrest for life. In 1998, remnants of the Khmer Rouge became torn by factional infighting in Cambodia's northern jungles; they no longer posed a military or political threat to the government, and Pol Pot was killed or died of illness (April 15, 1998) in a jungle hideout before he could be brought to trial for
genocide. The last main Khmer Rouge force surrendered to the government, laying down arms, in December 1998.
|
