Germany Gives for Khmer Rouge Trial

Germany announced Monday it will give a further 1.5 million euros ($1.9 million) to the United Nations for a planned trial of Cambodia's surviving Khmer Rouge leaders which is expected to cost $56 million. "The total contribution of almost $3 million reflects the great political importance Germany attaches to a thorough judicial review of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge, which will also help to further strengthen the rule of law in Cambodia," the German embassy in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, said in a statement. The latest pledge, which brings the total offered by Germany to $2.9 million, appears to leave the world body just under a million dollars short of the 43-million-dollar portion it has agreed to pay for the tribunal. The three-year proceedings, aimed at securing justice for the up to two million people who died under the 1975-79 ultra-Maoist regime, were given the go-ahead to proceed by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan in April.