Hard-line Khmer Rouge guerrillas have executed their own chief executioner for treason, and the movement's leader is on the run amid the disintegration of his forces, a Cambodian leader said Friday.
On orders from top commander Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge guerrillas shot Son Sen, the group's defense minister and security chief, First Premier Norodom Ranariddh said.They also shot his wife, Yun Yath, and drove a vehicle over the couple's nine children, crushing their heads, he added.
The Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979 in a brutal, Maoist regime blamed for the deaths of 2 million Cambodians through overwork, starvation, beatings and executions.
More than 10,000 Khmer Rouge troops defected to the government last August. The reported execution reveals a deepening fragmentation among the remaining 2,000-7,000 Khmer Rouge hard-liners left fighting the government from their stronghold in northwestern Anlong Veng.
Ranariddh said Pol Pot has fled Anlong Veng with 200 guerrillas and some hostages and was heading for nearby Preah Vihear temple.
He said military commanders told him that Pol Pot is seriously ill and cannot walk, although they did not reveal the nature of his illness.
Other Khmer Rouge guerrillas in Anlong Veng who want to negotiate a peace deal with the government were trying to prevent Pol Pot from escaping, Ranariddh said.
"Ninety-five percent of the armed forces in Anlong Veng are determined to join the royal government and are now surrounding Pol Pot," Ranariddh said.
The first premier said the executions took place on Tuesday.
He said that Pol Pot killed Son Sen because he suspected him of colluding with Second Premier Hun Sen, Ranariddh's partner and rival in Cambodia's tense coalition government.
Khieu Kanharith, a member of Hun Sen's party who oversees the Ministry of Information, said he also had learned of the executions from the Ministry of Defense.
"The disintegration of the Khmer Rouge is a good sign, beneficial to the entire nation, not just one political party," he said.
When the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia, Son Sen ran Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, where more than 20,000 people were tortured and killed.
He was believed to have been ranked No. 4 in the guerrilla group's hierarchy, and as security chief bore key responsibility for the regime's atrocities.
Son Sen's fall from grace became apparent Wednesday when a Khmer Rouge spokesman said in a radio broadcast that Son Sen was operating a network of spies to try to split the movement.