Pol Pot

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot

Saloth Sar or Minh Hai, (May 19, 1928^{[7][2][3][4][8]} – April 15, 1998), widely known as Pol Pot, ប៉ុល ពត, was the leader of the Cambodian communist movement known as the Khmer Rouge^[9] and was Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976–1979.

Pol Pot became the de facto leader of Cambodia in mid-1975.^{[citation needed]} During his time in power, Pol Pot imposed a version of agrarian collectivization, forcing city dwellers to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labor projects, toward a goal of "restarting civilization" in "Year Zero". The combined effects of slave labor, malnutrition, poor medical care, and executions resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 to 2.5 million people, approximately 21% of the Cambodian population.^[10]

In 1979, after the invasion of Cambodia by neighbouring Vietnam in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, Pol Pot fled into the jungles of southwest Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge government collapsed.^[11] From 1979 to 1997 he and a remnant of the old Khmer Rouge operated from the border region of Cambodia and Thailand, where they clung to power and United Nations recognition as the rightful government of Cambodia.

Pol Pot died in 1998 while held under house arrest by the Ta Mok faction of the Khmer Rouge. Since his death, rumours that he was poisoned have persisted.^[12]