Ex-Khmer Rouge minister loses appeal

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia // A former female minister of the Khmer Rouge regime has lost her appeal against detention by Cambodia's genocide tribunal, where she is being held on charges of crimes against humanity. In Wednesday's unanimous ruling, judges of the UN-assisted tribunal's pretrial chamber upheld the current detention of 76-year-old Ieng Thirith, who served as the social affairs minister during the rule of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. Prak Kimsan, the chairman of the five-judge panel, said the "detention remains a necessary measure" for Ieng Thirith, adding that her appeal was dismissed. Mr Kimsan said there are "well-founded reasons to believe that crimes being investigated against the charged person were committed as part of systematic attack" during the Khmer Rouge regime.

*AP