VNA Procession and cultural activities at the anniversary. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai joined pilgrims to the Vietnam's legendary founders, the Hung Kings, for an incense burning ceremony yesterday. The Prime Minister prayed for weather suitable to making Vietnamese healthy and the crops bountiful. The Temple, dedicated to 18 Hung Kings, Vietnam's first dynasty, was erected on Nghia Linh mountain, considered as the capital city of the ancient Kingdom of Van Lang, in Lam Thao district, northern Phu Tho province. The ancestor ceremony on the 10th of the third month of the lunar calendar is a yearly national celebration. It always draws a huge crowd of Vietnamese pilgrims from all parts of the country as well as overseas Vietnamese. Also on the occasion, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the Department of Culture and Information of Ho Chi Minh City organised a ceremony to commemorate the death anniversary of Hung Kings at the Hung Kings Temple in the Zoological and Botanical Gardens (Thao Cam Vien). Leaders and people from all walks of life in the city burned incense and attended the worshipping ceremony in memory of the Hung Kings. Incense-offering ceremonies for the Hung Kings were also held at Hung Kings Temples in Tao Dan Culture Park, Hung Vuong (Hung Kings) Secondary School, Dam Sen Culture Park, pagodas, temples and several schools in District No 11 in the city. **** Protestant Church recognised Mr Le Quang Vinh hands over the decision to the head of the SVPGC Pham Xuan Thieu. The Southern Vietnam Protestant Church held a ceremony to honour a government decision to recognise the legal status of the southern Vietnam Protestant Church in Ho Chi Minh City on April 3. Chairman of the government's Board for Religion Le Quang Vinh read the decision before thousands of Protestants from central Quang Tri province to southern tip Ca Mau province. He expressed the hope that Protestants would practise their belief in compliance with national law, thus contributing to the strengthening of national unity in accordance with the church's motto 'Living of the Gospel amidst the nation.' Head of the southern Vietnam Protestant General Council Pham Xuan Thieu promised to join in the national renovation and development process. He and some other elders thanked the government for its help to their church in particular and to religious freedom in general. They also criticised some people in the Central Highlands for abusing the name of the Protestant Church for political purposes. They said these people were not true Protestants. (VNA) **** Vietnam, Bulgaria sign trade deal Vietnam and Bulgaria have signed a trade agreement as part of a visit by a Vietnam Trade Ministry delegation from April 1-3. Signatories to the agreement on April 2 were Deputy Trade Minister Le Danh Vinh and Bulgarian First Deputy Economic Minister Christo Mikhailovski. The agreement is intended to boost economic activities of both countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Under the newly-signed agreement, both countries have pledged to grant the other most-favoured nation status, ensure goods and service payment by convertible foreign currency, create favourable conditions for trade promotion, encourage the enterprises of both countries to expand production, establish joint ventures and ensure the transit of goods. The agreement will replace the Vietnam-Bulgaria economic and trade co-operation agreement signed on March 19, 1993. While in Bulgaria, the delegation held working sessions with Bulgaria's Economic Ministry and Fuel Resources and Energy Committee. Both delegations discussed measures to promote trade and economic co-operation, including Vietnam's long-term supply of coal to Bulgaria. (VNA) **** Asylum offer is an interference, says spokeswoman The US offer of asylum to 24 Vietnamese who fled to Cambodia was an effort to interfere in Vietnam's internal affairs, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said on April 3. It was also intended to complicate relations between the countries involved, she said. Ms Thanh said 24 Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) residents had fled illegally to Cambodia on about March 19-22 and had been arrested by the Cambodian government. They were not political refugees. The Vietnam government had asked the Cambodian government to return the 24 residents immediately so as to prevent more illegal cross-border entrances into Cambodia in search of third-country asylum. The request complied with agreements between Vietnam and Cambodia governing entry and exit visas and co-operation to safeguard the border in the interest of the two peoples. Vietnam would certainly not punish the 24, but was willing to help them re-unite with the community in accordance with its lenient and humanitarian policy. The US had announced the offer of asylum at a time when the Vietnam and Cambodia governments were in the process of settling the problem. Therefore, the US offer revealed an effort to take advantage of the incident and interfere in Vietnam's internal affairs. The US had caused difficulties in settling the problem and had complicated relations between Vietnam and the United States; between Vietnam and Cambodia and between Cambodia and the US. It had also encouraged illegal cross-border activities, thus distabilising the region. Ms Thanh said the Foreign Ministry strongly demanded an immediate end to the US interference. (VNA) **** India and Spain assist flood victims Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Saurabh Kumar has granted 8,700 kilograms of medicine as relief worth US $511,560 to Vietnamese flood victims. The donation was given to Vietnam Red Cross president, Professor Nguyen Trong Nhan in Hanoi on April 3. Professor Nhan thanked the Indian government and people for their help to Vietnamese flood victims at the hand-over ceremony. The Spanish Red Cross gave US $15,000 to the Vietnam Red Cross Central Committee simultaneously. The sum will be used to buy 90 tonnes of rice for flood victims in the Mekong delta provinces of Dong Thap and An Giang. Floods that hit the Mekong delta from July to October last year killed 429 people and caused material losses of US $270 million. (VNA) **** Comments on Milosevic's arrest, collision of China, US planes Foreign Ministry spokesperson Phan Thuy Thanh has stressed that any action or interference that puts pressure on another country is unacceptable. Ms Thanh was answering the AP Hanoi-based correspondent who was seeking Vietnam's response to the arrest of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic by Serbia's security forces on April 1. She said: "All internal affairs of a sovereign nation should be decided by the people of that country on the basis of respecting that country's laws and in accordance with international law." As for the US surveillance aircraft that made an emergency landing on Hainan Island, China, with its 24 crew members after a collision with a Chinese fighter aircraft in the East Sea airspace, the spokeswoman said: "We are following this affair with keen interest. All actions taken in the East Sea should conform with international law and the legal regulations of concerned nations." (VNA) **** Lai Chau province shaken by fourth quake An earth tremor shook Lai Chau township of northwestern Lai Chau province at 3.47am on April 3. The quake, measured at 4.9 on the Richter scale, cracked many houses in the town. According to the Earthquakes Department of the Geophysics Institute, the earth tremor also hit the province's Muong Te and Tuan Giao districts. The provincial authorities have sent a working team to Lai Chau township to help residents overcome the aftermath. Earlier this year, the province was hit by three quakes, which occurred on February 19 and 21, and March 5, measuring at 5.2 and 5.3 on the Richter scale, respectively. Vietnam's two worst quakes, measuring at 6.75 and 6.7 on the Richter scale, hit the northwestern region in 1953 and 1983, respectively. (VNA) _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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