Fifth former Khmer Rouge leader arrested at gunpoint

Samphan, 76, had been recuperating in Calmette Hospital in the capital after suffering a suspected stroke at his home in the remote border municipality of Pailin last week but was taken by heavily armed police and driven to the court early Monday morning.

 Samphan was the former head of state during the 1975 to 1979 regime, under which up to 2 million Cambodians died, and was the movement's leading intellectual.

 He was always a prime candidate to stand trial, despite denying he had any part in the atrocities, claiming he was "busy" and had been ignorant of the inner workings of the shadowy Khmer Rouge regime until its collapse in 1979.

 Local media camped out at the 56-million-dollar joint UN-Cambodian tribunal also reported Samphan's arrest. A court spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

 Any charges laid against Samphan were expected to be announced later Monday afternoon.//dpa

Photo from www.cambodia.org