From: Nhan Tran <tran@peora.sdc.ccur.com>
Subject: NEWS/VN: VN gives US documents on missing soldiers
Originator: anh@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Organization: SCV Relay
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 16:46:43 GMT


12/17

VIETNAM GIVES U.S. DOCUMENTS ON MISSING SOLDIERS

    By Bill Tarrant
    HANOI, Dec 17, Reuter - A U.S. senator said on Thursday that Hanoi had
handed over documents containing crucial information on American servicemen
missing in the Vietnam War, an issue that has bedevilled U.S.-Vietnamese
relations for two decades.
    "They have produced in fact more documents than we have requested," said
Senator John Kerry, chairman of a Senate committee investigating Americans
missing in the Vietnam War.
    "The minister could not have been more forthcoming," Kerry told reporters
after meeting Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam.
    "There was very interesting information. They had shoot downs, dates of
deaths, places of burial, and this is the critical information we are looking
for," he said.
    Kerry and fellow senator Bob Smith arrived in Hanoi on Thursday for a
two-day visit that caps a year-long $1.9 million investigation into cases of
2,264 Americans missing or killed in action and whose bodies have never been
found.
    Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said the Vietnamese promised more
documents on Friday when he is scheduled to meet President Le Duc Anh and
communist party chief Do Muoi.
    The visit is part of a U.S. drive to resolve once and for all an issue that
remains the chief hurdle to normalisation of relations between the United 
States and Vietnam.
    The United States clamped a trade embargo on Hanoi in 1964 and extended it
to all of Vietnam in 1975 after the U.S.-backed government in Saigon was
defeated by communist forces.
    The Bush administration moved closer to normalising ties on Monday by
allowing American firms to open offices and sign contracts in preparation for
ending the embargo.
    The White House said it was doing so in response to Hanoi's stepped up
efforts to resolve cases of missing Americans.
    "I must tell you we welcome that step made by President Bush recently," Cam
told reporters after meeting Kerry. "We are looking forward to further steps so
that American companies can have better conditions to work here."
    Diplomats in Hanoi say Bush, who leaves office on January 20, might make
further moves toward normalisation after Kerry's committee submits its final
report on January 5.
    Kerry said he and Cam talked about ways of continuing the cooperation
between the two countries after the committee finishes its work, including
allowing families of missing soldiers to come to Vietnam and assist in the
search efforts.
    "(Cam) wants that to happen. I'm convinced it'll help break down barriers 
of communication," Kerry said.
    Hanoi opened its war museums and military archives to U.S. military experts
ahead of Kerry's last visit to Hanoi a month ago in what was described as a
major breakthrough.
    Smith, a Republican from New Hampshire, has said in the past he believes
U.S. prisoners of war were held in Vietnam and Laos until at least 1989. Smith
"expects (Vietnam) to turn over any Americans who may be living in the country
from the Vietnam War," said a senate aide in Washington on Wednesday.
    Smith made no comments on Thursday.