PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A prominent Khmer Rouge commander who later joined the Cambodian army was arrested in connection with the 1994 killings of three Western tourists, making him the first senior rebel jailed after defecting to the government.
The arrest of Col. Chhouk Rin comes as Cambodia and the United Nations near final negotiations on convening a tribunal to judge Khmer Rouge leaders for the death of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians during their reign in the late 1970s.
The United Nations has resisted giving its blessing to a tribunal plan unless it can be assured the proceedings in Cambodia's corrupt and politicized courts meet international standards of justice.
Chhouk Rin's arrest indicates Cambodia is trying to show it is serious about bringing the Khmer Rouge to justice. "This is a message to the United Nations," genocide researcher Youk Chhang said.
Prime Minister Hun Sen telephoned the ambassadors of France, Britain and Australia late Monday to tell them Chhouk Rin had been taken into custody in southern Cambodia, British Ambassador George Edgar said.
In brief comments to reporters, Hun Sen said that "only Chhouk Rin" had been arrested. Another former Khmer Rouge commander, Sam Bith, now an army general, was also charged in the slayings but remains at large.
Military police Chief Gen. Sao Sokha confirmed that Chhouk Rin was arrested Monday at his home in a former Khmer Rouge stronghold and was now in Phnom Penh's T3 prison.
Chhouk Rin was charged in June with involvement in the killings of Australian David Wilson, Briton Mark Slater and Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet, all in their 20s.
The three backpackers were abducted July 26, 1994, when a band of Khmer Rouge guerrillas ambushed a train that was traveling from Phnom Penh to the seaside town of Sihanoukville.
Chhouk Rin admitted to leading the attack, and his former superior, Nuon Paet, implicated him in June during his own trial by saying Chhouk Rin had ordered the tourists be put to death after the government failed to meet ransom demands.
Chhouk Rin had remained free because of his status as one of the first prominent Khmer Rouge to defect during the group's long civil war. He was rewarded with a senior army position.
Critics fear several Khmer Rouge leaders will avoid prosecution because of the defection deals they struck with Hun Sen in the premier's negotiations for the collapse of the guerrilla movement. After a Vietnamese invasion in 1979 toppled the Khmer Rouge from power, the movement took to the jungles to wage civil war.
Chhouk Rin defected in 1994 as the Cambodian army prepared its final assault on the Khmer Rouge's southern base of Phnom Vour, or Vine Mountain.
After the army overran the base, the bodies of the three backpackers were found buried in shallow graves.
Nuon Paet, who was arrested in 1998 without defecting, was found guilty of ordering the killings and sentenced to life in prison.