Britain hails jailing of KRouge fighters over Cambodia murder

Former Cambodian Khmer Rouge rebel Khem Ngun(R) is escorted to court

LONDON (AFP) — Britain welcomed Tuesday the jailing in Cambodia of four former Khmer Rouge guerrillas over the kidnapping and murder of a British mine clearer and his translator in 1996.

Three men were jailed for 20 years and a fourth for 10 years, a decade after a joint British-Cambodian investigation into the killing of Christopher Howes and translator Huon Huot.

"I welcome the guilty verdicts and sentences handed down today by a Cambodian court in the trial of those responsible," said junior foreign minister Bill Rammell.

"The verdict brings to an end 12 years of uncertainty for their families," he added.

Howes and Huon Huot were shot a few days after they were seized near the famed Angkor Wat temples in northwest Cambodia. At the time the communist Khmer Rouge were battling government troops towards the end of Cambodia's civil war.

Their remains were found in 1998, the same year Cambodia's civil war ended when the Khmer Rouge movement disintegrated.

After a two-week trial in Cambodia, a court found Khem Ngun, 58, Puth Lim, 57, and Loch Mao, 56, guilty and sentenced each of them to 20 years in prison, while Sin Dorn, 52, was jailed for 10 years.

The international charity Mines Advisory Group, for which the two dead men worked, also welcomed Tuesday's verdict, saying their families were "extremely satisfied with today's outcome."

The British minister added: "It is a tribute to the determination of the Howes family and the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), who have worked tirelessly to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes were brought to justice.

"I would also like to express appreciation to the Cambodian government and justice system for their support in bringing those responsible to trial, and to the Metropolitan Police for their assistance over many years," he added.