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POL POT - also known as Solath Sar (1925 - 1998). Cambodian politician and communist party leader. A member of the anti-French resistance under Ho Chi Minh in the 1940's. As leader of the khmer Rouge, he overthrew the government in 1975 and proclaimed Democratic Kampuchea with himself as premier. His policies were to evacuate cities and put people to work in the countryside.
The Khmer Rouge also carried out systematic large scale extermination of the western influenced and educated middle classes before the regime was overthrown by a Vietnamese invasion in 1979.
Pol Pot continued to lead the Khmer Rouge until their withdrawal in 1989.