Khmer Rouge Leader Nabbed

'Brother Number Two' of genocidal regime lived openly in jungle headquarters

By Jane Yager, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 19, 2007 6:07 AM CDT

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Khmer Rouge Leader Nabbed — Nuon Chea listens to news broadcasts from the bedroom of his simple rural home near Pailin, Cambodia, in this March 10, 2005 file photo. Police surrounded the home of the top surviving leader of the Khmer Rouge, Nuon Chea, on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007, and prepared to arrest him over his role in the... (Associated Press)

The highest ranking Khmer Rouge official still alive was arrested early today in Cambodia as part of a UN-led genocide investigation. Nuon Chea, 82, was second only to Pol Pot in the regime that killed over a million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979. Chea has been living openly for decades in the former jungle headquarters of the Khmer Rouge, BBC reports.

"He was shaking. His legs looked like they would collapse," said a witness describing Chea's arrest. Chea now faces an international genocide tribunal. Observers worry that there is little time to bring many aging Khmer Rouge leaders to justice. Pol Pot died in 1998, and his notorious henchman Ta Mok died last year. (More Khmer Rouge stories.)

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