Vietnam, Cambodia Boost Cooperation Over Vietnamese War Missing

Text of report by Vietnamese newspaper Nhan Dan on 8 January

[Unattributed article: "High-level Vietnamese Government Delegation Pays Working Visit to Cambodia"]

According to a VNA Phnom Penh-based correspondent, a delegation of the Vietnamese Government’s Ad-Hoc Committee for searching for and repatriating remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers killed during the war in Cambodia, headed by Lt. Gen. Bui Van Huan, member of the Communist Party of Vietnam [CPV] Central Committee and deputy director of the Vietnam People’s Army General Political Department paid a working visit to the Royal Kingdom of Cambodia from 2-8 January.

During its stay in Cambodia, the Vietnamese delegation had a working session with the Cambodian Government’s Ad-Hoc Committee, and was cordially received by Gen. Pol Saroum, deputy commander-in- chief of the Cambodian Royal Army and president of the Cambodian Ad- Hoc Committee.

Both sides exchanged views on and reviewed achievements in searching for remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers killed during the war as well as developments in the exhumation and repatriation of remains of these Vietnamese volunteer soldiers. The task has been carried out continuously over the past years in accordance with the agreement reached by the two governments.

The Cambodia side pledged to do its best to create favourable conditions for the task to be carried out effectively so as to locate more remains of the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers for repatriation to Vietnam.

During its visit to Siem Reap, Prek Vihia, and Kompong Chhnang provinces, the Vietnamese delegation inspected various excavation sites and held working sessions with Cambodian provincial taskforces working at these sites.

The Vietnamese delegation also visited and laid wreaths at the monuments of fallen Vietnamese volunteer soldiers in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap City. The delegation visited the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia and the military attache office at the Embassy.

Since 2002, Cambodian searching teams for remains of the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers have located, exhumed, and repatriated almost 10,000 sets of remains of these soldiers back to Vietnam.

Originally published by Nhan Dan, Hanoi, in Vietnamese 8 Jan 08.

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