Vietnam detains boss of Hilton Hotel local partner HANOI - Vietnamese police have detained the head of the Hilton Hotel's local joint venture partner in Hanoi for alleged gambling activities, officials said on Friday. The Foreign Ministry said Le Thi Mao, director of the state-run Dong Loi Tourist Hotel, had been detained for gambling but declined to give specific details about her alleged offences. Mao is also director of the state-run Dong Loi Tourism Company, which has a 30 percent stake in the $64-million Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel. Communist-ruled Vietnam views gambling, which is mostly illegal, along with prostitution and drug abuse as a leading ``social evil'' that has boomed under a decade of economic liberalisation. ``Le Thi Mao, director of the Dong Loi Tourist Hotel has been detained by the police for her involvement in gambling,'' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said in response to questions from Reuters. ``Police are in the process of completing the charge file against the accused. No Hilton Hotel staff were involved in this gambling case,'' she added. An executive at the Hilton, which opened earlier this year in Hanoi, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Officials at the Hanoi Economic Police also said Mao had been detained for gambling but declined to give details. It was unclear where Mao was being held. A directive introduced in 1997 allows authorities to hold people under ``administrative detention'' for up to two years without trial. The hotel, managed by Hilton International Co, opened during a tough time in Vietnam although executives have expressed confidence in the long-term outlook. Tourist and business interest in Vietnam has waned in the past 18 months and some luxury hotels have opted to delay opening in Hanoi and southern Ho Chi Minh City. The Hilton Hanoi Opera lies several blocks from the remains of an infamous prison dubbed the ``Hanoi Hilton'' by United States pilots shot down and held there during the Vietnam War. Reuters - May 14, 1999.