Socialist Republic of Vietnam

(VNA)The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for POW/MIA affairs, Robert Newberry, during his visit here from Nov. 9-13, turned over a number of personal items believed to have belonged to Vietnamese soldiers fallen during the US War.

In Hanoi, Newberry visited Permanent Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and held talks with the Deputy Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh and the Deputy Chief of the Ministry of Public Security’s Security Department, Major-General To Lam. At these meetings and talks, the US official thanked Vietnam, on behalf of the US Government, for its effective cooperation in searching for US servicemen missing in action (MIAs) over the past years. He pledged to work towards promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the governments and peoples of the two countries. Deputy Foreign Minister Minh told the US official of the Vietnamese Government’s consistent policy on searching for US MIAs. He confirmed that upholding the tradition of humanity, Vietnam will continue to work with the US in MIA search efforts. The Vietnamese official also reminded the US to keep the needs of Vietnam well in mind, especially pertaining to humanitarian issues, the ongoing work of recovery in the post-war period, and Agent Orange victims. During his stay, the US official also worked with the directorate of the Vietnam agency responsible for the MIA search and visited an excavation site dug by a joint Vietnamese-American team in the mountainous northern province of Lao Cai./.