South African President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday offered Cambodia assistance for any trial involving surviving Khmer Rouge leaders held responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity.
He said Cambodia had previously sent a team to South Africa to study the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in the post-apartheid era and designed to serve justice and resolve conflict.
”I do not know what Cambodia intends to do,” Mbeki told reporters during an official visit here. ”(But) we are very definitely ready to assist if assistance is required.”
Efforts to try surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge, who are blamed for the deaths of about two million people, have stalled but negotiations between the United Nations and Phnom Penh are continuing.
The ultra-Maoists ruled this country from 1975 to early 1979 when they were ousted by a Vietnamese invasion. – Sapa-AFP