U.N. pulls out of Khmer Rouge trial talks

More than 1.7 million Cambodians are thought to have died under the Khmer Rouge's brutal rule

NEW YORK -- The United Nations has pulled out of negotiations with the Cambodian government on establishing a special court to try former Khmer Rouge leaders, saying it could not guarantee the court's independence and impartiality.

Chief U.N. legal counsel Hans Corell said Secretary General Kofi Annan decided to end talks after concluding that the court as planned by Phnom Penh "would not guarantee the independence, objectivity and impartiality that a court established with the support of the United Nations must have."

No Khmer Rouge leader has yet stood trial for the group's role in the death of some 1.7 million people during their brutal rule of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.

Former Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, known as "Brother Number One" during the group's four years in power, died in a jungle hideout in 1998.

Announcing the U.N.'s move in New York Friday Corell said the Cambodian government was now free to move ahead either on its own or with the support of "interested states" to bring surviving Khmer Rouge leaders to trial.

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He said the U.N. had become increasingly concerned at the "lack of urgency" shown by the Cambodian authorities in the talks on establishing a tribunal.

"That delay extended the time before which the aged Khmer Rouge leaders could be brought to justice," Corell told reporters.

"The United Nations feels that this lack of urgency could continue," he added.

Trials 'will go ahead'

Responding to the announcement Cambodia's ambassador to the U.N. said negotiations had failed because the organization had tried "to dictate the terms of cooperation."

"My government is determined to go ahead with or without the United Nations' assistance," Ambassador Ouch Borith said in a statement.

"It is our responsibility to bring those top leaders of the Khmer Rouge to justice," he added.

The United States has expressed surprise at the move saying the court project was too important to abandon.

"We think this remains an important project," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.

"The tribunal is important to help resolve many of the issues that remain in Cambodia," he said.

"We would hope that they would continue their discussions. We think there are grounds for continuing their discussions."

U.N. legal officials have been in discussion with the Cambodian authorities since 1997 when Prime Minister Hun Sen requested legal and technical assistance from the world body to establish a special tribunal to put surviving Khmer Rouge leaders on trial.

The Cambodian leader insisted the court operate under Cambodian sovereignty while the U.N. said the court should meet international standards with international judges sitting on the panel.

The proposed court has become a divisive issue in Cambodia with some people expressing concerns that any future trial could reopen old wounds and set the country back on a path to conflict.