UN legal counsel preparing to head to Cambodia to finalize deal on Khmer Rouge courts

United Nations Legal Counsel Hans Corell is preparing to travel to Cambodia to finalize an agreement with the government on establishing special courts to try the former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, a UN spokesman said today.

Mr. Corell had been prepared to go to Phnom Penh to meet his Cambodian counterpart, Sok An, and had tried to schedule a visit on 17 and 18 May, spokesman Fred Eckhard said at a press briefing in New York. "However, during that period, the Secretary-General [Kofi Annan] had wanted Mr. Corell to be available in New York while the Security Council took up the question of Iraq," he said.

Earlier this month, the General Assembly adopted a resolution containing the draft agreement between the UN and Cambodia concerning the prosecution - under Cambodian law - of crimes committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea. The 32-article draft plan would create "Extraordinary Chambers," comprising one trial court and one Supreme Court within the existing national court structure of Cambodia, and contain a mix of international and Cambodian judges.

According to the spokesman, Mr. Corell wrote to Sok An on 16 May explaining that an agreement on Khmer Rouge trials could be signed in New York but that he could not leave Headquarters as planned. "Sok An, in a letter dated 22 May, said that he 'fully understands the reason for the postponement' of Mr. Corell's visit and added that the Government of Cambodia would wait for him to arrive in Cambodia in June," Mr. Eckhard said.

"With the Iraq matter now resolved, Mr. Corell is once more ready to travel to Cambodia, and we hope to be able to announce the dates for his visit to Phnom Penh shortly," the spokesman added. "He is expected to travel towards the end of next week."