Britain has announced it will contribute $1.2 million to the funding of the Khmer

Rouge Trial.

The pledge came on January 27, coinciding with a visit to London by Cambodian Justice

Minister Ang Vong Vathana, reported the Daily Telegraph.

Douglas Alexander, Britain's junior foreign minister, said his country "warmly

endorsed" moves to set up the court and hoped that it would provide justice

for past crimes as well as "strengthen accountability, the rule of law and judicial

reform in present day Cambodia".

The United Nations-backed trial has been budgeted at $56.3 million over its expected

three-year duration, with $43 million coming from the international community.

So far Australia has contributed $2.1 million, Japan has pledged $3 million and France

has offered $1 million.

A year's funding must be banked and the rest pledged before the trial can begin,

under UN conditions.