Briefly

Khmer Rouge tribunal halts Cambodians’ salaries

PHNOM PENH | About 300 Cambodians working at the U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal will not be paid this month - and some have worked without pay since October - because funds from donor countries have dried up, a tribunal spokesman said Thursday.

International staff are paid by the U.N. and will continue to receive salaries. The salaries of local staff, however, are funded by contributions from donor countries.

The tribunal is seeking justice for an estimated 1.7 million people who died from torture, starvation, exhaustion or lack of medical care during the Khmer Rouge’s 1970s rule. It opened in 2006 after years of wrangling between Cambodia and the U.N., and just one trial has been completed.

The lengthy delays have been costly and raised fears justice will not be achieved because of the shaky health of the aging defendants.

AFGHANISTAN

Bomb kills 4 Afghans in attack on NATO team

KABUL | A suicide car bomber targeting a NATO-sponsored reconstruction team killed four Afghan civilians, including a child, and wounded 31 on Thursday in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

Three civilian international members of the aid team - two men and one woman - were among the wounded, said Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor. He said their injuries were not life-threatening and he did not know their nationalities.

The bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle Thursday morning as a convoy of a NATO Provincial Reconstruction Team passed by in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province.

The blast ripped through the convoy of armored vehicles, knocking over at least one and charring others. The explosion also shredded nearby storefronts and damaged at least 17 civilian cars nearby.

• From wire dispatches and staff reports