Rugged terrain provides shelter
A thin ribbon of 'Pol Pot territory' in the far north stretches for close to a hundred kilometres along the Thai-Cambodian border - a rugged escarpment above a soaring 600-metre cliff face which looks on to a heavily forested plain below.
Impenetrable, isolated territory which has been under Khmer Rouge control for years, it is criss-crossed in places by serviceable roads, which were used in the past for logging and supply runs between rebel bases and Thailand.
A seriously ill 70-year-old Pol Pot is now reportedly holed up more than 20 kilometres east of Anlong Veng.
Military sources say he is likely to be in a 'defended location' prepared in advance for such withdrawals.
Military observers said Pol Pot's June 11 eastward flight, from Anlong Veng towards the guerilla stronghold of Preah Vihear temple, would have been along an evacuation route he has taken before, when government troops came too close to his central Anlong Veng base.
Military sources said it is unclear whether Pol Pot has retreated to a fortified village in low 'plains territory' or to extremely inaccessible and rugged country up on the escarpment.
If he is still in the lowlands, officials said Pol Pot's newest refuge is unlikely to be 'a mere jungle hideaway'.
Satellite photographs of the area show scattered rural villages, connected by passable dirt roads, and some areas of cleared land.
'Inside the Anlong Veng guerilla-controlled area there are defended localities, areas that are more heavily secured and protected.
'It is likely he is now in one of these areas,' one military official said.
