PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—Authorities have arrested a fourth former Khmer Rouge soldier suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and killing of a British mine clearance expert and his Cambodian interpreter 12 years ago.
Sin Dorn was charged with premeditated murder and illegal confinement of a person, Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge Ke Sakhan said. He is accused in the 1996 kidnapping and death of Briton Christopher Howes and his interpreter, Huon Huot.
The British embassy in Phnom Penh on Thursday welcomed Sin Dorn's arrest "and the continued progress made on this long-standing case," spokesman Chantha Kim said in an e-mail.
Howes, of Bristol, England, and a group of Cambodian co-workers were abducted in March 1996 by Khmer Rouge guerrillas while clearing mines in an isolated area about 10 miles north of Angkor Wat, the country's most popular tourist destination.
Howes, who was 37 at the time, persuaded the guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and Huon Huot remained hostages for ransom.
Their fate was unknown until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said about two years later that they had firm evidence the two had been taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon after their abduction.
Three other former Khmer Rouge soldiers were detained in November in connection with Howes' disappearance.
The judge said police arrested Sin Dorn, 52, last Friday in Anlong Veng. He did not elaborate on the suspect's alleged involvement in the crime.
The other arrested suspects include Khem Ngun, a former Khmer Rouge commander who witnesses said gave the order to kill Howes.
Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army.
The Cambodian government had been unwilling to arrest him earlier, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were in the process of defecting at the time.
The charges against Sin Dorn carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
