Pol Pot, Cambodian Ruler During Genocide, Reported Seriously Ill

Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who ruled Cambodia for nearly four years and presided over a genocide campaign that left thousands if not millions of people dead, is seriously ill, the Bangkok Post reported Wednesday.

The newspaper, quoting unidentified diplomatic sources, said the 58-year-old former ruler “is very sick and has already left his border headquarters for China.”

It gave no details of his departure or illness. Diplomatic sources could not confirm the report, and Mak Ben, Cambodian resistance ambassador to Peking, denied it, saying: “Pol Pot is deep inside Kampuchea (Cambodia) and is not suffering anything serious.”

Other Cambodian resistance sources said they could not confirm the report but said that Pol Pot, a French-educated Marxist whose real name is Saloth Sar, has been ill for more than a year and has previously received medical care in China. One source said that Pol Pot has been suffering from various illnesses, including diabetes and complications arising from malaria.

Diplomatic sources said they have heard reports that Pol Pot has left for China but could not confirm them. “He has been sick before,” one diplomat said. “The question is just how serious is it this time.”

Under Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge forced the wholesale depopulation of Cambodia’s cities and towns. Estimates of the number of people killed during the Khmer Rouge’s reign run from hundreds of thousands to more than 2.5 million in the nation of less than 7 million people.

Since a Vietnamese invasion drove his regime from Phnom Penh in 1979, Pol Pot has directed the guerrilla resistance. The Khmer Rouge is the strongest of three guerrilla groups--the other two non-communist--in a U.N.-recognized coalition government-in-exile.