Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea dies at 93

Nuon Chea

PHNOM PENH: Nuon Chea (pic),the chief ideologue of the communist Khmer Rouge regime that destroyed a generation of Cambodians,died,the country’s UN-assisted genocide tribunal said. He was 93.

Nuon Chea was known as Brother No. 2,the right-hand man of Pol Pot,the leader of the regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The group’s fanatical efforts to realise a utopian society led to the death of some 1.7 million people – more than a quarter of the country’s population at the time – from starvation,disease,overwork and executions.Researchers believe Nuon Chea was responsible for the extremist policies of the Khmer Rouge and was directly involved in its purges and executions.