Phnom Penh - Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal on Monday announced a mid-February starting date for the first of five trials of the genocidal regime's former leaders.

Kaing Guek Eav - known by his revolutionary name, Duch - will appear before the court on February 17 to face charges of crimes against humanity and breaches of the Geneva Conventions.

The 66-year-old former mathematics teacher was the chairman of the Khmer Rouge's S-21 torture facility in Phnom Penh and was indicted last year for crimes against humanity.

He is one of five former leaders facing trial for their roles in deaths of up to 2 million people through execution, starvation or overwork during the Khmer Rouge's reign between 1975 and 1979.

The ultra-Maoist group sought to transform Cambodian society into an agrarian-socialist utopia before being overthrown by Vietnamese-led forces in January 1979.

Duch has been detained since 1999 and has previously admitted guilt for the crimes, leading many observers to suggest that his trial will be the most expeditious of all the detainees.

The starting date was set during meetings last week between judges, prosecutors and Duch's defence team, but documents confirming the date were not released to the media until Monday.

The Khmer Rouge tribunal was established in 2006 after a decade of negotiations between the UN and the Cambodian government and has so far only held pre-trial hearings.

The hybrid court consists of international and Cambodian judges, prosecutors and defence teams and has come under fire for delays in starting the trials.

The tribunal has also been subject to accusations of corruption on the Cambodian side of the court.

Dates have not yet been set for the trials of the four other former leaders. (dpa)