Monday, September 27, 2010

Ieng Sary

Ieng Sary's Brief Biography


Kim Trang is Ieng Sary’s original name. Sou Hav and Comrade Vann were his revolutionary names. His Khmer Krom name is Penh. Ieng Sary was born in 1930 in Tra Ninh province, Vietnam. His wife is Ieng Thirith. He has three daughters and a son.
Today, his niece occupies his birth house.
We met Ieng Sary's nephew, named Thach Vutha (son of Ieng Sary’s older sister) and his wife Him.
According to Vutha, Ieng Sary's father is Kim Riem, a Khmer Krom native, and his mother is Tran Thi Loi, a Chinese immigrant who came to Vietnam with her parents when she was a child. Due to illness, Kim Riem is blind in one eye.
Ieng Sary is the youngest of three children. His brother Kim Chau, the oldest, worked as the chief of Orussey market during the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime. About 1980, Chau and his family fled to Florida in the United States. His older sister Kim Thi Cau and her husband Thach Song passed away, leaving behind seven children. One died of illness, three live in Cambodia, and three live in Vietnam.
Ieng Sary visited his home village in Vietnam once before he studied in France. His older sister-in-law, Thach Song, sold 200 Tang [4 tonnes] of rice to back Ieng Sary's financial needs for his study in France.
Ieng Sary's mother missed him very much and always asked about him, while Ieng Sary never let his family know about his condition or visited his home village again.
Vutha revealed that around 1976 the Vietnamese government donated milk, tea, sugar, and other food supplies five or six times to Ieng Sary's family, but from 1977 they never did so.
In 1960, Ieng Sary taught history and geography at Kampuch Botr School which was directed by Hou Yun. In 1963, he fled to a northeastern jungle in Kampong Cham, where he built up force. In 1970, he traveled to Vietnam to establish cooperation with Vietnam. In 1972, he became the commander in chief of northeastern zone’s military. From 1971 to 1972, he and his wife made contacts with Khmers in Vietnam. In 1973, he worked in a secret office of the party in suburb of Hanoi. In 1975, he became a member of the People’s Revolutionary Party. In September 1975, he was a member of the central committee. On 9 October 1975, he was responsible for “foreign affairs of the party and the state.” On 30 March 1976, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of Foreign Affairs.
After having power in their hands, Pol Pot and Ieng Sary and a handful of other leaders caused the death of millions of people.
Kim Keo Kanitha, Choung Sphearith and Long Dany

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