Khmer Rouge leader denies mass murder, blames Vietnam

Former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan attends the closing statement in case 002/02 against former Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, at the courtroom of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, June 23, 2017. Nhet Sok Heng/Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia/Handout via REUTERS

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A leader of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge denied on Friday that he and his colleagues were responsible for the death of an estimated 1.7 million people during their 1975-79 rule, saying their sworn enemy Vietnam invented the idea of genocide as propaganda.

Former president Khieu Samphan, 85, and Khmer Rouge "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, 90, face charges of crimes against humanity and genocide in the second case before a U.N.-backed tribunal known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.