Pol Pot was quietly cremated on Saturday (18/4), with his one-time right-hand man saying the murderous dictator was now more useless than cow dung. The body of one of the 20th century's bloodiest tyrants was burned in a private jungle ceremony close to the Thai-Cambodian border at Chong Sa-Ngam, cheating millions who had hoped to see him tried for genocide. Pol Pot died of an apparent heart attack on Wednesday, aged 73. Many of his countrymen and many abroad remain suspicious that his comrades-turned-captors killed him rather than turn him over for international trial, where he might name names. The cremation was attended only by local villagers and three Khmer Rouge officers. It began at 9.52am (0252 GMT). Journalists, who in the last two days were allowed to enter the area to see Pol Pot's corpse, were barred from the scene.