VNA President Ho Chi Minh's birthday marked On-going activities are being organised throughout the country to celebrate the 111th birthday of late President Ho Chi Minh. A meeting to review 20 years of 'Sen Village Singing Festival' was held in Nghe An central province on May 16. Ten art troupes across the country gave performances, praising Uncle Ho. The Sen Village Singing Festival has been held in the province for the past 20 years in commemoration of Uncle Ho. Also during the celebration, the Nghe An province's Department of Culture and Information decided to change the name of the festival to 'Sen Village Festival'. A delegation from the central province of Thua Thien- Hue visited Uncle Ho's homeland and presented Kim Lien relic site with a statue of Uncle Ho's youthful image. The bronze statue is 1.5 metre high and weighs 150 kilograms. Sixteen public art troupes and 350 professional artists of Thai Nguyen province participated in an art performance. The songs and dances praised the Party, beloved Uncle Ho and the country. The Party Committee and the Military Zone 1's Command organised many political activities for officers and men to improve their knowledge on Ho Chi Minh's thought. Nam Dinh province held many activities to celebrate Uncle Ho's birthday such as a public performance with songs praising the Party and Uncle Ho, a display of President Ho Chi Minh's books and other writers' books on Uncle Ho and a panel poster exhibition, 'President Ho Chi Minh, Hero in the National Liberation and the Worldly Man of Culture'. More than 700 children from 12 districts and precincts took part in the fourth Childhood's Melody Festival. Through performances, children expressed their fine sentiments to Uncle Ho, the country, parents and teachers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cuba celebrates President Ho Chi Minh's birthday A talk on Vietnam was held in Havana, on May 16, to mark the 111th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People and the Cuba-Vietnam Friendship Association. Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba, Thai Van Lung, spoke of the Ninth National Congress of Communist Party of Vietnam last month. He stressed that the Vietnamese communists are determined to follow the socialist way with Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought being the foundation to build Vietnam with a rich people, a strong country, and an equal, democratic and civilised society. On the occasion, a documentary film named "Sai Gon - Ho Chi Minh City" was screened, presenting historic stages against aggressors by the Vietnamese people. Present at the talk were CVFA President Yolanda Ferrer and other representatives from the Cuban Party Central Committee's Commission for External Relations and the Foreign Ministry. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Defence minister meets Algerian War Veterans Minister Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General, Pham Van Tra, met the visiting Algerian Minister of War Veterans, Mohamed Cherif Abbas, and his entourage in Hanoi on May 17. Minister Tra described the Algerian Minister's visit as a contribution to boosting friendship between the peoples, armies and war veterans of the two countries. Minister Abbas expressed his joy to visit Vietnam and affirmed the visit would strengthen the traditional friendship between Algeria and Vietnam. On this occasion, Minister Abbas presented President Bouteflika's Moudjahidine Armed Forces, "Friendly Order" to Minister Pham Van Tra. The Algerian Minister and his entourage arrived in Hanoi on May 15 for a working visit to Vietnam as guests of the Vietnam War Veterans' Association Central Committee. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vietnam reaffirms sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Phan Thuy Thanh, on Thursday, May 17, described as violating Vietnam's sovereignty, any move made by other countries towards its archipelagos of Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly). "Any move by other countries towards Vietnam's Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, as well as its exclusive economic zones and continental shelves without its government's permit, is a violation of Vietnam's sovereignty and rights of sovereignty in these regions," Ms Thanh said. She also reaffirmed Vietnam's position on these two archipelagos by saying "Vietnam has enough historical evidence and legal ground to affirm its indisputable sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos." In reponse to Vietnam News Agency's query about Vietnam's reaction to China's decision to continuously ban fishing operations in the East Sea from June 1st to August 1st this year, Ms Thanh said: "A littoral country, Vietnam has all sovereign rights towards its exclusive economic zones and continental shelves." "Now as before, Vietnam intends to solve all disputes relating to the East Sea through peaceful negotiations on the basis of respect for international laws and practices, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1992 Manila Declaration on the East Sea." "While accelerating negotiations for a basic and durable solution to all disputes, all concerned parties should maintain stability on the basis of status-quo and self-restraint, without taking any action to make the situation in these regions more complicated," the spokeswoman said. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Deputy foreign minister visits Persian Gulf countries Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Van Nganh paid separate visits to Oman, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from May 5-16. Deputy FM Nganh was accompanied by a number of Vietnamese entrepreneurs. He had talks and exchanges of views on boosting friendship and co-operation in economy, trade, labour and investment with officials of relevant agencies in those countries. During these working sessions, Deputy FM Nganh briefed his hosts about Vietnam's current situation, its open foreign policy and co-operative potential. He stated that Vietnam always attached importance to relations with Persian Gulf countries, including Oman, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The hosts expressed their admiration at the Vietnamese people's struggle for national freedom in the past and achievements in the national renewal process at present. They expressed wishes to further boost relations with Vietnam. During the tour, the Vietnamese Deputy FM met the Foreign Minister of Oman, Yousuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah; the Minister of State in Charge of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, N A Madani; and the National Assembly Chairman of Kuwait, Jassem al-Khorafi. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ly arrested on charges of law breaking Law enforcement forces in central Thua Thien-Hue province arrested Nguyen Van Ly, on May 17, on charges of violating his probation under Article 269 of the Criminal Code. Ly was arrested at his house in Truyen Nam hamlet, Phu An commune, Phu Vang district. Nguyen Van Ly was born on May 15, 1946 in central Quang Tri province. He was ordained as a priest in 1974. After the liberation of the south, Ly was allowed by the local administration to preach religion in line with law. However, he committed a number of law violations instead of concentrating on religious practice and consequently received some punishments. Of late, Nguyen Van Ly continued to provoke public disorder and incite anti-government activities, thus threatening public security. On February 5, 2001, the Hue Church decided to send Ly to another parish and the decision received the local administration's approval. Ly, then, served as a priest at An Truyen parish in Phu An commune, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien-Hue province. Ly continued his anti-Government activities and committed more serious violations of law in the An Truyen parish. Consequently, the People's Committee of Thua Thien-Hue province on Feb. 26 issued a warrant putting him on probation in Phu An commune so that he would have time to correct his wrong-doings. But Ly had defied the probation and continued his anti-Government activities, causing public disorder, disturbing the daily life and production of local people, and worse still, inciting believers to cause unrest in Truyen Nam hamlet and at the office of the People's Committee of Phu An commune, Phu Vang district. His activities have aroused discontent and anger from the local population, and Catholic priests and followers. Ly was arrested publicly in the presence of a large crowd who expressed their approval. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ US scientists warn about consequences of Agent Orange Results of a latest research project conducted by US scientists show that ' Agent Orange,' used by US forces during the War, continues to seriously threaten Vietnamese people's health. The results of the research on the effects of Agent Orange were announced by the US, "Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine" on May 15. The research revealed that 30 years after US forces sprayed Agent Orange on Vietnam's battlefields, a number of Vietnamese people in the areas exposed to the poisonous chemical still show a high level of dioxin in their blood. US health researchers have found that the dioxin content in the blood of people living in Bien Hoa town, where a major airbase and chemicals storehouse of the US were located, is 135 times higher than that in the blood of Hanoians. In particular, 'Agent Orange' victims of Bien Hoa included people who were not in Bien Hoa during the war time and also people who were born many years after the end of the war. Evidence gathered by the scientists suggests that the use of 'Agent Orange' by US forces during the war, continues to pose a serious threat to the health of local people in Bien Hoa. Other US health researchers who had not taken part in the research said that Agent Orange remains a disastrous legacy of the war that should not be forgotten. President of the Vietnam Red Cross, Doctor Nguyen Trong Nhan in a recent interview with the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper, said that according to statistics released by the US Defence Department, US forces sprayed 72 million litres of toxic chemicals, including 44 million litres of 'Agent Orange' containing 170 kilograms of dioxin, in Vietnam and adjacent regions of Laos and Cambodia, between 1961-1971. According to US scientists, there are more than 1 million 'Agent Orange' victims in Vietnam, including 150,000 children. (VNA) _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
