« Back to Provision

Cease Fire – 1996

On August 20, a breakaway faction of the Khmer Rouge, which was based in Pailin and led by Pol Pot’s former deputy Ieng Sary, and the Cambodian army agreed to a ceasefire in territories under the rebels’ control.¹ After some political maneuvering, the king signed a royal degree granting amnesty to the defector, Mr. Ieng, on September 16.²

Though the Khmer Rouge still controlled areas of Cambodia, particularly in the north near Anlong Veng, it had lost more than half of its military strength and the area around Pailin, which was rich in natural resources, including gems and logs.

1. “Khmer Rouge “coup” faction agrees to ceasefire,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, August 20, 1996.
2. “Rebel leader given amnesty Cambodian peace talks back on track,” The Globe and Mail (Canada), September 16, 1996.