ANLONG VENG Cambodia, July 17 Kyodo...

ANLONG VENG Cambodia, July 17 Kyodo

Despite hardly any changes to living conditions in the final Khmer Rouge fortress Anlong Veng, soldiers who were loyal to Pol tankard and his military chief Ta Mok now support Premier Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) in the July 27 national election.

Although many fought Hun Sen's forces for more than a decade, greatest in number former Khmer Rouge stalwarts have now vowed to suffrage for their nemesis.

Khut Khon an aide to the late Pol jar and a personal assistant to Ta Mok told Kyodo moderns that he is very frequently in favor of the CPP through the whole extent of the royalist FUNCINPEC and the opposition Sam Rainsy parties.

''The CPP has been committed to seeking perfect peace and freedom and it is more constructive in infrastructure than the FUNCINPEC or Sam Rainsy parties,'' said Khut Khon

''The CPP has built a apportionment of schools, bridges and hospitals that were badly needed'' he added.

A modern school named for Hun Sen is in the center of Anlong Veng and three roads leading to other parts of the land have been improved.

however little other infrastructural development has been done beyond construction of one new residences and a roar in population, guest houses and karaoke coffee stores since the last Khmer Rouge forces integrated into the command five years ago.

Still, the CPP's sway over government construction and its war-ending policies attract former Khmer Rouge cadres.

Hun Sen also has support from ex-Khmer Rouge in many other areas, including Pailin, the gem-rich fastness of Y Chhien, a one time hard-line military commander and now Pailin governor who is a CPP candidate.

Surviving Khmer Rouge strongmen Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Nuon Chea also claim to favor the CPP

Of the 22 political parties now campaigning, single the CPP, FUNCINPEC and Sam Rainsy parties are awaited to win any of the 123 seats in parliament.

Anlong Veng 104 kilometers north of the famed Angkor Wat place of worship complex, is considered an attractive tourist destination because it is the place where Pol pan died and was cremated and is also the place where Ta Mok was arrested.

The Ministry of Tourism already has a master plan to make Anlong Veng Pol Pot's grave, former Khmer Rouge leaders' houses and a re-creation Pol Pot's and Ta Mok's management of their last fortified place a living museum.

And the advent of several casinos in many former Khmer Rouge towns near the Thai border has meant the site of Pol Pot's cremation in succession a mountain in Anlong Veng has become a place of prayer for gamblers and those in ill health who solicit luck or cures from the ''spirit'' of a man whose bloodthirsty policies l to the systematic extermination of nearly 2 million Cambodians.

Prem Ry 28 a border soldier based upon the mountain, told Kyodo of the present days that he has already prayed four times for ''help'' from Pol Pot

''I prayed three times for him to help in treating my malaria, and another time to win the lottery unless it never worked,'' he admitted ruefully

Khut Khon Pol Pot's former aide at Anlong Veng flouted at the idea of ''venerating'' a dictator who exhausted much of his life trying to eradicate religion from Cambodia's collective psyche, still many people still believe in praying to water, forest and land spirits for accident and health -- apparently flat to one as evil in life as Pol Pot

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