Former Vietnamese PM dies

Former Vietnamese PM dies

HANOI (Agencies): Former Vietnamese prime minister Pham Van Dong, one of the giants of the country's independence struggle, has died aged 94 in Hanoi, the communist party announced on Tuesday.

Dong, one of the architects of Vietnam's communist revolution, died Last Saturday, a day before the 25th anniversary of the communists' biggest victory, Vietnamese officials said.

Dong, who combined personal charm with political toughness in serving as prime minister through three decades of war and painful reunification, had been hospitalized on life support for months before his death on Saturday, said the officials, speaking on traditional custom of anonymity.

With no newspapers Monday because of the May Day holiday, Dong's death was to be announced on Tuesday. A state funeral was planned for Friday.

The cause of his death was not immediately known but his health had deteriorated badly over the last few months, prompting several stays in hospital, the party spokesman said.

News of his death was kept from the Vietnamese public over the weekend and on Monday because of the nationwide celebrations to commemorate the end of the Vietnam War and worldwide May Day celebrations on Monday.

Dong headed the Vietnamese delegation at the 1954 Geneva conference which resulted in France's withdrawal from its former colonial possession and the partition of the country.

The same year he was named prime minister of North Vietnam, a post he held for 33 years through the reunification of the country following the fall of the pro-America regime in the south, until 1987.

The "favorite nephew" of "Uncle Ho" Chi Minh then retired from public life but retained a role as special advisor to the communist party's central committee until December 1997.

Despite his failing health and blindness, he continued to exercise huge influence over the Vietnamese regime.