Glam rocker Glitter in Vietnamese court

VUNG TAU, Vietnam, Mar 2 (Reuters) Disgraced British ''glam rocker'' Gary Glitter arrived at a communist People's Court in southern Vietnam today to face charges of molesting two young girls.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was brought to the yellow concrete courthouse -- a Hammer and Sickle emblem above the front door -- from the prison where he has been held since he was arrested in November as he tried to leave the country.

''Innocent,'' he said when asked from a jostling crowd of reporters, cameramen and photographers how he would plead at the trial in Vung Tau, a resort town 120 km (70 miles) southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese officials have taken the unprecedented step of briefing reporters about the one-day closed-door hearing, in which the 1970s rock icon will come face-to-face with his accusers -- girls he said he was teaching English.

The verdict is due to be pronounced tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time. If found guilty, the 61-year-old Glitter is likely to be sentenced to between three and seven years in a Vietnamese jail.

REUTERS DH RAI0659