Hanoi Urges U.S. to Separate Ties, MIAs
Vietnam urged the United States on Saturday to stop linking normalization of diplomatic ties to a resolution of the fate of American servicemen missing from the Vietnam War.
The Foreign Ministry said Vietnam is doing its best to cooperate with Washington to find clues to or remains of Americans who never made it home from the war.
“Normalization between Vietnam and the United States is in the interest of both countries, and for peace, stability and development in the region, and normalization should not be linked to any preconditions,” the ministry said. “Vietnam always considers the MIA (missing-in-action) question as a humanitarian one not linked to any political question.”
On Friday, President Bush hailed Hanoi’s agreement to provide thousands of photographs and other documents from its previously closed war prisoner archives.
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