Hundreds Mourn "The Butcher"
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent Phenom Phen, Cambodia (AHN) - Hundreds of supporters arrived in Anlong Veng to pay their last respect to Ta Mok, also known as "The Butcher" who died Friday at a government hospital. Ta Mok was a former military commander of the Khmer Rouge and is one of the most vicious leaders of the regime. Ta Mok was given a traditional Buddhist blessing ceremony which he denied thousands of others during their reign. Incense was burned and prayers recited over his body which was daubed with white powder. The ex-Khmer Rouge fighter was linked to countless atrocities of the 1970s. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died under the regime through a combination of starvation, disease and execution. He was the only Khmer Rouge leader who refused to plea with the government following the collapse of the regime. He was arrested near the Thai border in 1999. Prior to that, he was a local war lord in Anlong Veng which was also his stronghold until the 1990s. BBC said he was brought to a government hospital from prison last month after suffering from high blood pressure and tuberculosis. Though Ta Mok was one of the most vicious leaders of the Khmer Rouge, he is remembered in this area as tough but generous - a man who brought public works projects and some employment to a poor region. On Saturday, local people filed through the house to light incense and contribute money towards h |
