SA-NGAAM PASS, Cambodia The body of former Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, one of the century's most reviled dictators, was cremated by his comrades yesterday in a low-key ceremony in a northern Cambodia hamlet. A Khmer Rouge spokesman told reporters at Sa-Ngaam Pass on the Thai-Cambodian border that Pol Pot was cremated in mid-morning opposite a wooden shack where his body was displayed to the press on Thursday. Pol Pot was architect of the ultra-leftist Killing Fields regime which ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and was blamed for the deaths of more than one million Cambodians, mainly from forced labor and starvation.

The 73-year-old former guerrilla leader, who had become increasingly frail, apparently died on Wednesday of heart failure. The private cremation ceremony was attended by about 20 people, mainly Khmer Rouge followers, and lasted for about 15 minutes, said spokesman Nuan No. As he spoke, reporters could hear the thunder of mortar and tank rocket shells reverberating from Khmer Rouge-held areas as fighting raged between guerrillas and Cambodian government troops reported to have taken the group's nearby stronghold of Anlong Veng. Images seen on local television in Thailand showed guerrillas carrying a coffin draped in a colored blanket and adorned by a bunch of white and pink flowers.

They placed the coffin on a cremation pyre along with Pol Pot's humble personal and favorite belongings, including his walking stick, rocking chair and mattress. The pyre of wood and used car tyres was then splashed with gasoline and lit by a Khmer Rouge soldier. More gasoline was then thrown on the fire, stoking the flames and sending up a column of thick black smoke.

Pol Pot's ashes would be scattered in three places around northern Cambodia, he added. Some would be deposited along the Dongrek Mountain range which borders Thailand and Cambodia and others would be strewn near the Tonle Sap Lake area and in northern Ratanakiri Province where Pol Pot was raised, he said. (Reuter)