Vietnam to deport 3 US citizens for plot

HO CHI MINH CITY, Nov 10 (Reuters) Three Vietnamese-born US citizens were sentenced today to 15 months imprisonment and ordered deported on charges of plotting violence against the Communist-run Vietnam government.

The sentences of the three, who have been detained since September last year, included the 14 months already served, so they would expect to be deported to the United States in December.

Judge Vu Phi Long in Ho Chi Minh City People's Court issued the 15 month sentence and ordered them to be expelled within 10 days of finishing their prison terms.

The one-day trial included a Florida resident, Nguyen Thuong Cuc, 58, whose detention has drawn criticism from her supporters in the United States before President George W Bush visits Vietnam next week for an Asia-Pacific summit.

US embassy officials in Hanoi declined comment.

Four other defendants, who include a US resident of Vietnamese descent and three Vietnamese living in Vietnam, received the same sentence and were ordered to be put under house arrest for three years when they complete their sentences.

Cuc, who goes by the name of Thuong Nguyen Foshee in her Orlando, Florida home, has close ties with Bush's Republican Party.

The seven defendants were charged last week with ''terrorist activities''. These included bomb plots, delivering leaflets and jamming radio stations, prosecutors said.

''This is a very dangerous crime that put people's life in danger and is condemned by the international community,'' the judge said at the sentencing.

Prosecutors linked the seven to a Vietnamese-born US resident, Nguyen Huu Chanh, who has been suspected in recent years of plotting to bomb Vietnamese embassies. He is detained in South Korea while Hanoi pursues his extradition.

Chanh is a member of a US-based group called ''Government of Free Vietnam''.

In court today, Foshee said, ''I very much regret my participation in Nguyen Huu Chanh's organisation. I had lived outside of my country for nearly 40 years so I didn't understand my country and the laws in Vietnam''.

All other defendants expressed similar regrets.

Foshee's daughter Liz McCausland has said that while her mother was a pro-democracy activist, Foshee was not plotting against the Vietnam government.

Vietnam hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit from November 12-19 and visitors will include presidents and prime ministers from APEC's 21 members.

Separately, Bush and the leaders of China, Japan, Russia and Chile are scheduled to make state visits as part of the biggest international event held in the under-developed Southeast Asian country.

REUTERS SP VV1718