PHNOM PENH, July 31: Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who caused the deaths of up to two million Cambodians, pleaded for his life before his former comrades staged a show trial where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

After publicly distancing itself from Pol Pot via the trial, the Khmer Rouge vowed yesterday to fight Cambodia's new strongman, Hun Sen, and the regime he is imposing following a violent coup. Details of the elderly, ill revolutionary begging not to suffer the fate he imposed on so many others were released yesterday by the far eastern Economic Review in extracts of an article to be published today.

Nate Thayer, an American journalist for the Hong Kong-based newsweekly, and a cameraman witnessed Pol Pot's trial last Friday. They were the first journalists to see the notoriously secretive Pol Pot in 18 years.

The article quotes Khmer Rouge Chief of Staff General Im Ngoun as saying Pol Pot embraced him, burst into tears and begged for his life four days before the trial in the northern jungle stronghold of Anlong Veng. ``Pol Pot told me that this is the end of his life, he has nothing left, but he begged me to allow him to live,'' Ngoun was quoted as saying.

The Khmer Rouge intends to open Anlong Veng to foreigners, hoping to show a better face to the world and win allies against Hun Sen, Thayer quoted Gen Im Ngoun as saying. A video of the proceedings shows Pol Pot, 69, with white hair, in poor health and unable to walk without a cane. ``My personal opinion is that he will never leave the jungles of Cambodia,'' Thayer said in an interview.

``He no longer plays a role of any political consequence within Cambodian society,'' Thayer said. ``That's an extremely important historical event, not just for Cambodia but for what role he played in world history.'' Clandestine Khmer Rouge Radio, meanwhile, said that with Pol Pot gone, the movement will be ``stronger than ever''.

``Our struggle comes with the support of the international community and its pressure on Vietnamese Communists and Hun Sen the puppet,'' in Sopheap, a senior cadre, said in the broadcast. Hun Sen launched a violent coup July 5-6 against his co-premier, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, shattering the coalition government that emerged from UN-sponsored elections in 1993.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.