[JURIST] Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong [official website] told reporters Thursday that the joint Cambodia-UN tribunal that will try former Khmer Rouge leaders accused of genocide requires additional funds to extend its work into 2010. Although the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive] was originally supposed to complete its work by 2009, numerous delays have pushed back the start of operations, which are now expected to begin in the middle of 2008. ECCC head of public affairs Helen Jarvis said the tribunal is still short $7.5 million of the $56.3 million initially budgeted [finance website], but did not say how much additional funding will be requested. Allegations of mismanaged administration and corruption [OSJI press release] could hamper the tribunal's efforts to secure more funding.

The ECCC was established by a 2001 law [text as amended 2005, PDF] to investigate and try surviving Khmer Rouge officials. The Khmer Rouge is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians who died between 1975 and 1979. AP has more.