Seven prominent Vietnamese and Americans will work together to support humanitarian efforts in cleaning up wartime dioxin, or "agent orange" in Vietnam. The compound dioxin is a component of "agent orange" toxic herbicides sprayed during the 1960s and 1970s war.
New York-based Ford Foundation said the policy makers, scientists and business figures "aim to build a collective, bipartisan humanitarian response where diplomatic discussion alone has proved difficult" in resolving a bitter war legacy.
The announcement, the latest by Americans and Vietnamese on the sensitive issue, was made during the visit to the United States by President Nguyen Minh Triet. He is the first head of state of communist-ruled Vietnam to be welcomed by Washington since the war ended in 1975.
Toxins that Vietnam says have affected millions of people over three generations is a thorn in otherwise friendly ties built up over 12 years since diplomatic relations were established between Washington and Hanoi. The United States government maintains there is no scientific link between the toxins and the disabled.
[Reuters]
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