Judges for Khmer Rouge trials due to be sworn in

The judges appointed to oversee the trial of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge are due to be sworn in at a ceremony in the capital, Phnom Penh.

Cambodia's highest legal body has appointed 17 Cambodian and 13 international judges and prosecutors for the tribunal to bring to justice Khmer Rouge leaders accused of genocide.

Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and execution during the four-year rule of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.

So far only two former regime leaders have been jailed on genocide charges, while others live freely in Cambodia.

All are elderly and suffer from poor health, raising fears that they might die before the joint United Nations-Cambodia tribunal.

The entire investigation phase is expected to last up to six months, with trials beginning in mid-2007.

The Khmer Rouge trials will take place in a military compound in the town of Kambol, 15 kilometres west of Phnom Penh, with donors funding most of the US$56 million ($92 million) process.

- RADIO AUSTRALIA