ABSTRACT
Ta Mok is the nom de guerre of the most notorious military commander of the Khmer Rouge. His true name is Chhit Choeun and he held senior military positions in the early 1970s during the successful challenge to the government of Lon Nol. He was seriously wounded in the fighting, losing a leg which was replaced with a wooden limb. Little is known of his personal background. His notoriety arises from his role as party secretary in the south-western region in conducting murderous purges after the Khmer Rouge came to power in April 1975, which is when he took the name Ta Mok, meaning Old Man. Abdul Taib Mahmud has been chief minister of Malaysia's north Bornean state of Sarawak since March 1981, succeeding his uncle Abdul Rahman Yakub. He leads the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, which is dominated by a Muslim Malay-Melanau constituency of which he and his uncle are members.
