A UN-backed war-crimes court was hearing closing arguments yesterday in the first trial delving into the horrors of the communist regime behind the "Killing Fields" atrocities three decades ago.

Under Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge killed nearly two million people through starvation, overwork and execution between 1975 and 1979.

They were trying to turn Cambodia back to a rural-based "Year Zero."

Lawyers for the prosecution said pleas for forgiveness by Duch - real name: Kaing Guek Eav - did not amount to a guilty plea for his time in charge of the jail known as S-21, or Tuol Sleng.

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Seeking a 40-year jail term for Duch, international prosecutor Bill Smith told judges: "In imposing this penalty, you are not taking away the accused's humanity, but you are giving it back to the victims of S-21."

The 67-year-old former maths teacher faces charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder. A verdict is not expected until early next year.

Duch said he had obeyed orders so he could protect his life and those of his family.

"I found I ended up serving a criminal organization, which destroys its own people in an outrageous fashion," he said. "I could not withdraw from it. I was just like a cog in a running machine."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE