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Sunday, November 11, 2007

Cambodia: Naga Corp Go Top

Back to back wins within the space of just three days have given Naga Corp FC the points and their place at the top of the Cambodian Premier League.

Naga Corp FC, who last sat at the top of the CPL in August, beat Royal Cambodian Armed Forces 2-1 before scoring one of their best win this season with a close 4-3 victory over league leaders Phnom Penh Empire.

Despite taking a 2-0 lead at the break off a double from Hok Sotithya (4th and 11th minute), Empire seem to have taken their foot off the pedal in the second half as they allowed Naga to claw back.

A hat-trick (55th, 63rd and 92nd) from Ndjana Pierre as well as another from
Sun Sovannarith in the 83rd minute gave Naga Corp the win even though Hok Sochivorn did a pull goal back deep in injury time for Empire.

But the goal was just a tad too lad for Empire to salvage the one point as they lost all three to a fighting Naga Corp side.

The defeat was a little unexpected for Empire especially when they had ran riot just a few days earlier when they thumped Baksey Chamkrong FC 7-0.

In the meantime, Khemara Keila FC maintained their position on third at the table when they followed up convincing 5-2 win over Red Eagle FC with a slim 2-1 victory over Lion Squad FC.

CAMBODIAN PREMIER LEAGUE STANDINGS

1. NAGA CORP FC 26pts (+45)


2. PHNOM PENH EMPIRE 26pts (+42)


3. KHEMARA KEILA 21pts (+29)


4. BUILD BRIGHT UNIVERSITY 13pts (0)


5. RED EAGLE 13pts (-9)


6. ROYAL CAMBODIAN ARMED FORCES 11pts (+13)


7. LION SQUAD 8pts (-18)


8. BAKSEY CHAMKRONG3pts (-102)


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Khmer Rouge bigwig faces arrest


Police in Cambodia have entered the house of the former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary.
It is thought he will be arrested and taken to face trial at Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal.

Ieng Sary is Pol Pot's brother-in-law. He became the first senior Khmer Rouge leader to defect in 1996 - and as a result was granted a royal pardon.

However, he is believed to be under investigation for crimes committed under the 1970s regime.

He has repeatedly denied responsibility for any crime.

The United Nations says a royal pardon cannot protect someone from prosecution.

Roads around Ieng Sary's luxury villa in the capital Phnom Penh have been sealed off by military police.

Tribunal officials were seen entering the house, which Ieng Sary shares with his wife, Ieng Thirith, who served as the Khmer Rouge social affairs minister.

She is also likely to be arrested.

The BBC's Guy DeLauney in Phnom Penh says police and officials are currently searching the house, which they have to do in the presence of those being charged.

Torture and executions

Prosecutors for the tribunal have said there is evidence of Ieng Sary's participation in crimes, including planning, directing and coordinating forced labour and unlawful killings.

During the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule, Ieng Sary convinced many educated Cambodians who had fled the country to return.

Many were then tortured and executed as part of the purge of intellectuals, some of them diplomats from his own office.

Ieng Sary is said to be ill with a heart condition, and travels to Bangkok regularly for treatment.

Pol Pot, the founder and leader of the Khmer Rouge, died in a camp along the border with Thailand in 1998.

His deputy Nuon Chea and Kang Kek Ieu, or Duch, head of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, have already been arrested by the tribunal to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court got under way last year after a decade of negotiations between the UN and the Cambodian government. Trials are expected to start in 2008.

As many as two million people are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule, but no-one has ever been prosecuted.

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