A Cambodian military general has been arrested over the murder of British deminer Christopher Howes, who was kidnapped and killed in 1996, local media reported Wednesday. Khem Ngun, a former Khmer Rouge soldier, was charged Tuesday with pre-meditated murder over the deaths of Howes and his Cambodian translator, the Khmer-language Rasmei Kampuchea reported.
Khem Ngun served under the notorious Khmer Rouge commander Ta Mok before joining the government after the rebels' demise in the late 1990s. According to Phnom Penh Municipal Court officials, Khem Ngun allegedly ordered rebels under his control to shoot Howes and his translator a few days after they were seized near the Angkor Wat temples in north-west Cambodia.
At the time the communist Khmer Rouge were battling government troops in the final years of Cambodia's drawn-out civil war. Howes was given the chance to leave his kidnapped team of 20 deminers from the British-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) to retrieve a ransom, but refused.
While the team was eventually released, Howes and his translator were taken deeper into rebel-held territory and killed. His remains were found in 1998. Families of the victims filed complaints in provincial court, but long delays forced the transfer of the cases to Phnom Penh, Rasmei Kampuchea reported. No trial date has been set.