The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Phnom Penh

Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan was arrested Monday by Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal, becoming the latest member of the former regime to face justice.

The 76-year-old, who acted as the regime's head of state, will be interviewed by tribunal judges later in the day and is expected to be charged afterwards. "He has been arrested and brought to the tribunal," spokesman Reach Sambath told AFP.

"The court is fulfilling its duties smoothly," he added.

Khieu Samphan is the last of five top regime cadres currently under investigation by the tribunal to be detained.

Last week two former Khmer Rouge ministers, Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, were arrested by the court and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for their alleged role in Cambodia's 1970s genocide.

Regime ideologue Nuon Chea and prison chief Duch were arrested earlier this year and also charged with crimes against humanity. All have been widely implicated in atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge, including "murder, extermination, imprisonment, enslavement and forced labour," according to court records.

Khieu Samphan had earlier Monday been taken from a hospital in the capital Phnom Penh by about 30 armed security forces and driven away in a police convoy, witnesses said.