Australian warships cruise into former Saigon HO CHI MINH CITY - Two Australian warships cruised into the former Saigon on Saturday in the first such naval visit granted to Australia since the Vietnam War. Hundreds of sailors in white uniforms lined the decks of the Perth and the Arunta under torrential tropical rain as the vessels wound their way up the Saigon River and then docked in communist-ruled Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City. The Perth, a guided missile destroyer which served during the Vietnam War and the Arunta, a newly-built frigate, had to navigate past commercial ships and sampans in the busy waterway that flows into the South China Sea. Some 50,000 Australian troops fought with soldiers from the U.S.-backed South Vietnam against the communist North in a conflict that ended in 1975 and saw this bustling metropolis renamed after Hanoi's revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh. Around 500 Australian troops were killed during the decade-long war. Like the United States, the conflict left emotional scars on veterans and their families and divided the nation, especially over the use of military conscripts. The Perth, Australia's oldest warship, will be decommissioned after the April 24-28 visit. Sailors will line its deck at dawn on Sunday to mark Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) day, which commemorates soldiers from the two countries who fought and died in battle. Officials from Australia and Vietnam have painted the naval visit as another step in developing bilateral relations, especially between the two armed forces. Luong Van Ly, deputy director of the external affairs department from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, played down any possible ill feeling over the Perth's service against communist forces during the Vietnam War. ``The past is there. We cannot obliterate that but the Vietnamese people are more than prepared to look toward the future,'' he told Reuters Television after welcoming the ships. Australian ambassador to Vietnam, Michael Mann, said it was only natural that the two countries had a complete relationship, which would include defence links. Canberra's ties with Vietnam have grown this decade, and Australia is one of the country's biggest bilateral aid donors. However, differences remain over Hanoi's human rights record. Australia is also home to a large and vocal anti-communist Vietnamese community, many of whom fled before the downfall of Saigon in 1975 or amid economic misery in the years after. During the visit Australian naval officers will journey to Long Tan in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, where the replica of a large white cross marks the site of a fierce battle between Australian troops and communist forces in 1966. The site has become a pilgrimage for Australian veterans, who have since funded an orphanage nearby. The real cross lies in a museum at Bien Hoa near Ho Chi Minh City. Reuters - April 24, 1999.