Court charges Khmer Rouge president

By Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A Cambodian court charged former Khmer Rouge president Khieu Samphan on Monday with crimes against humanity, the latest member of Pol Pot's inner circle to face a trial expected next year.

The French-educated guerrilla leader, who has denied knowledge of any atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge during its 1975-79 reign of terror, also stands accused of war crimes, court spokesman Reach Sambath said.

The 78-year-old was arrested by armed police after his release from a Phnom Penh hospital earlier on Monday, and whisked to the court where he faced Cambodian and foreign judges probing one of the 20th century's darkest chapters.

"The court has formally charged Khieu Samphan with crimes against humanity and war crimes," the court spokesman said.

Khieu Samphan, the fifth senior Khmer Rouge cadre to be arrested since the $56 million (27.3 million pound) court got under way in earnest this year, was put under provisional detention for one year.

His lawyers planned to appeal the detention order.

A close adviser of Pol Pot, Khieu Samphan has previously portrayed himself as a virtual prisoner of the regime and denied knowledge of any atrocities as Pol Pot drove his dream of creating an agrarian peasant utopia.

About 1.7 million people were executed or died of torture, disease or starvation under the ultra-Maoist revolution.