Pol Pot

=== Fall of the Khmer Rouge: 1990–1998 ===
The [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] and the subsequent end of the [[Cold War]] had repercussions for Cambodia. With the Soviet Union no longer a threat, the U.S. and its allies no longer saw Vietnamese domination of Cambodia as an issue. The U.S. announced that it no longer recognised the CGDK as the legitimate government of Cambodia at the UN General Assembly.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=426}} In June, the various Cambodian factions agreed to a ceasefire, to be [[United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia|overseen by the United Nations]], with the formation of a new Supreme National Council to facilitate the implementation of democratic elections.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=427}} Pol Pot agreed to these terms, fearing that if he refused the other factions would all unite against the Khmer Rouge.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=427}} In November, Sihanouk returned to Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=427}} There, he praised the Vietnamese-backed leader, [[Hun Sen]], and stated that the Khmer Rouge's leaders should be put on trial for their crimes.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=428}} When Samphan arrived in Phnom Penh with the Khmer Rouge's delegation, he was beaten by a mob.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=428}}

Pol Pot established a new headquarters along the border, near [[Pailin province]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=428}} He called on the Khmer Rouge to redouble their efforts in gaining support across Cambodia's villages.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=429}} In June, Samphan announced that in contravention of earlier agreements its troops would not disarm, stating that it refused to do so while Vietnamese soldiers remained in Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} The Khmer Rouge became increasingly confrontational, expanding its territory across western Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} It carried out massacres of the Vietnamese settlers who had recently arrived in the area.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} Hun Sen's forces also carried out military activities, with UN peacekeepers proving ineffective in preventing the violence.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} In January 1993, Sihanouk returned to Beijing, declaring that Cambodia was unprepared for elections.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} The Khmer Rouge had formed a new party, the [[Cambodian National Unity Party]], through which it could take part in the election, but in March Pol Pot announced that they would boycott the vote.{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=430–31}} At this point he moved his headquarters to [[Phnom Chhat]]; Samphan joined him there, having withdrawn his Khmer Rouge delegation from Phnom Penh.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=431}}

In the [[1993 Cambodian general election|May 1993 elections]], [[Norodom Ranariddh]]'s [[FUNCINPEC]] won 58 of the 120 available seats in the [[National Assembly of Cambodia|National Assembly]]; Hun Sen's [[Cambodian People's Party]] came second. Sen, who was backed by the Vietnamese, refused to acknowledge defeat.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=431}} Sihanouk negotiated the formation of a coalition government between the two parties, introducing a system whereby Cambodia would have two prime ministers, Ranariddh and Sen.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=431}} The new Cambodian National Army then launched an offensive against the Khmer Rouge. By August, it had captured Phnom Chhat, with Pol Pot fleeing back into Thailand.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=432}} The Khmer Rouge launched a counter-offensive, having regained much of the territory they recently lost by May 1994.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=432}} Pol Pot moved to [[Anlong Veng]], but as that was overrun in 1994 he relocated to [[Kbal Ansoang]], on the crest of the [[Dangrek Mountains]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=434}} The Khmer Rouge nevertheless faced growing levels of desertion over the first half of the 1990s.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}}

Pol Pot placed renewed emphasis on those living in Khmer Rouge territory imitating the lives of the poorest peasants and in 1994 ordered the confiscation of private transport and an end to cross-border trade with Thailand.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}} In September he ordered the execution of a Briton, a Frenchman, and an Australian who had been captured in a Khmer Rouge attack on a train.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=436}} In July 1996, a mutiny broke out among the Khmer Rouge and in August it was announced that Ieng Sary, [[Y Chhean]], and [[Sok Pheap]] were breaking away from the movement, taking troops loyal to them. This meant that around 4,000 soldiers left, almost halving the troop forces that the Khmer Rouge then commanded.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=437}} By the end of 1996, the Khmer Rouge had lost almost all the territory they held in the interior of Cambodia, being restricted to a few hundred miles along the northern border.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=437}} Pol Pot commented to his aides: "We are like a fish in a trap. We cannot last like this for very long".{{sfn|Short|2004|p=437}} Pol Pot's health was declining. He suffered from [[aortic stenosis]] and no longer had access to follow-up treatment for his earlier cancer.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}} A stroke left him paralysed on the left side of his body,{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}} and he eventually required daily access to oxygen.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=438}} He spent increasing amounts of time with his family, in particular his daughter.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}}