Khmer Rouge 's Ieng Sary confirms break with Pol Pot .  ARANYAPRATHET , Thailand 1996-08-28  Dissident Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary confirmed on Wednesday that he had broken with Pol Pot and other hardliners of the guerrilla group and had formed a rival movement .  Ieng Sary said in a written statement , the first since his split with Pol Pot earlier this month , that the new movement to be called the Democratic National United Movement ( DNUM ) would seek an end to civil war and work towards reconciliation with the Cambodian government .  " I would like to inform you about my decision to break away from Pol Pot , Ta Mok , Son Sen 's dictatorial group , " he said in a copy of the statement obtained by Reuters .  " We believe that our country will be reduced to nothing if the [START_ENT] Khmer [END_ENT] people continue to fight against each other indefinitely ....  For this reason we decided to break away from that dictatorial group and found a movement named ' Democratic National United Movement ' , " he said .  Ieng Sary was sentenced to death in absentia for his role in the mass genocide in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge rule of terror between 1975-1979 when over a million people were executed or died of starvation , disease or overwork in mass labour camps .  The French-educated , former brother-in-law of Pol Pot was foreign minister in the Khmer Rouge government that ruled Cambodia and was seen as the group 's second in command .
Khmer people