Drunken KR soldier spill beans on grenade stash

Police followed the directions of Mao Sokhon, 42, after his drunken boasting and discovered the rest, of which approximately 70 per cent were still live, Chhouk district police chief in the southern province of Kampot Prum Veasna said by telephone.

"They have been buried there since the war. We have sent a Cambodian de-mining team there to dispose of them," Veasna said.

Veasna said it was not the former soldier's fault and he would not be arrested as he had told the village chief, who is also a former Khmer Rouge soldier.

After the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown in 1979 its soldiers mounted a guerrilla war in jungles such as Chhouk until 1996, often burying large stashes of weapons for insurance during battles, and these stashes continue to come to light.//DPA