Pol Pot

Pol Pot - 1978

Saloth Sar (May 19, 1928 – April 15, 1998), better kent as Pol Pot, (Khmer: ប៉ុល ពត), wis the leader o the Cambodian communist movement kent as the Khmer Rouge an wis Prime Meenister o Democratic Kampuchea frae 1976–1979. His time as the leader o Cambodie, in which he attemptit tae "cleanse" the kintra, resulted in the daiths o an estimatit 1.7 tae 2.5 million fowk.

Pol Pot became leader o Cambodie in mid-1975. Durin his time in pouer, Pol Pot imposed a version o agrarian collectivization, forcin ceety dwellers tae relocate tae the kintraside tae wirk in collective farms an forced labour projects, toward a goal o "restairtin civilization" in a "Year Zero". The combined effects o slave labour, massacre, an forced starvation resultit in the daiths o approximately 26% o the Cambodian population.

In 1979, efter the invasion o Cambodie bi neighbourin Vietnam in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, Pol Pot fled intae the jungles o soothwast Cambodie an the Khmer Rouge government collapsed. Frae 1979 tae 1997 he an a remnant o the auld Khmer Rouge operatit frae the border region o Cambodie an Thailand, where they clung tae pouer an Unitit Naitions recognition as the richtful government o Cambodie.

Pol Pot dee'd in 1998 while held unner hoose arrest bi the Ta Mok faction o the Khmer Rouge. Since his daith, rumours that he wis poisoned hae persistit.

References

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Pol Pot