Pol Pot `has escaped with Chinese help'

The infamous Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot has escaped from Cambodia to avoid facing an international court for his crimes against humanity, Cambodian newspapers said yesterday.

Pol Pot was said to have escaped with assistance from China, though the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh denied the reports and government officials dismissed them as propaganda from opposition forces.

The pro-government newspaper Koh Santepheap said Pol Pot had escaped from the rebels' jungle base of Anlong Veng. The newspaper said the Khmer Rouge defence chief Ta Mok had met Chinese diplomats at about the time of the escape. The opposition newspaper Udom Kateak said the Chinese wanted Pol Pot to avoid trial because they had backed his 1975-79 "killing fields" regime.

Reuters, Phnom Penh