Cambodian military personnel stand guard at the home of former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary in Phnom Penh Nov. 12, 2007. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on Monday detained former Democratic Kampuchea (DK) leader Ieng Sary and his wife for questioning. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    PHNOM PENH, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) here on Monday detained former Democratic Kampuchea (DK) leader Ieng Sary and his wife for questioning.

    Police and tribunal officials arrived at his home in Phnom Penhat about 6 a.m. local time, the earliest permissible time for arrests under ECCC rules, and both of them were taken to the court in the suburb four hours later.

    Charges haven't been issued against them, sources at the court told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    However, this may be an indication that the couple will be become the third and fourth DK leaders to face trials, the source added.

    Ieng Sary is DK prime leader Pol Pot's brother-in-law and worked as foreign minister for the regime. His wife Ieng Thirith once served as DK's education and social affairs minister.

    His deputies Nuon Chea and Duch, who served respectively as DK's chief ideologist and chief of the Tuol Sleng torture center, have already been detained by the tribunal to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    ECCC was co-installed by the United Nations and the Cambodian government to try former DK leaders, whose regime from 1975 to 1979 was widely held responsible for the death of some 1.7 million people over starvation, torture and lack of medicine.