PHNOM PENH, March 6 (Reuters) - The former chief of a Khmer Rouge torture centre will be detained until late 2008 as the impoverished country prepares for a U.N.-backed genocide trial of Pol Pot's henchman, a military court said on Tuesday. Duch, the 65-year-old former head of the notorious Tuol Sleng S-21 interrogation centre, has been in prison and awaiting trial on genocide charges since 1999. Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Ieu, would be freed on Nov. 10 2008 if he has not faced trial by then, court director G. Ney Thol told Reuters. Duch's lawyer, Kar Savuth, said he wrote a letter to the court on Monday demanding a speedy trial for his client. "Duch told me that he wants to stand trial as quickly as possible," he said. No Khmer Rouge leader has ever faced credible justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in the "Killing Fields", many of them tortured and executed. Others died of starvation, disease or overwork in vast labour camps. Cambodian and international judges sitting on the Khmer Rouge tribunal hold crunch talks on Wednesday to resolve a disagreement between local and U.N.-backed officials on the rules of the court. The talks are due to end on March 16. Diplomats say the U.N. side of the court will walk away if they feel their local counterparts are dragging their feet. Pol Pot, the architect of the Khmer Rouge's "Year Zero" peasant revolution, died in 1998. Around 10 of his ageing colleagues are expected to face trial, including by "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former head of state Khieu Samphan and ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary, who are all living as free men. Five human rights organisations, including the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and Asia Forum, urged the tribunal members on Monday to "adopt internal rules that conform to international standards without further delay".
