Vietnam dissident meets envoys
A Vietnamese religious organisation, the International Buddhist
Information Bureau, says that the head of a banned Buddhist
church has been allowed to meet foreign diplomats for the first
time in 20 years.
In a statement, the Paris-based organisation said that two
envoys from the European Commission met Thich Huyen Quang
last week in a Hanoi hospital where he has undergone surgery to
remove a growth near his eye.
Mr. Quang, who is 86 years old, is the patriarch of the United
Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
He has been under house arrest in the remote central province of
Quang Ngai since 1982.
Vietnam is often accused of human rights abuses and religious
restrictions, which it denies.
BBC World Service - March 17, 2003.
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