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.