Bush says Vietnam visit proof of reconciliation

HANOI, Nov 17 (Reuters) George W Bush became the second US president to visit post-war Vietnam today, saying his presence 30 years after a conflict that split America was proof the two nations ''can reconcile and move beyond past difficulties''.

With the United States bogged down in another unpopular war in Iraq that has evoked comparisons to Southeast Asia's upheaval a generation ago, Bush said Vietnam's experience showed divisions there can also be healed in time.

''My first reaction is, history has a long march to it, and that societies change and relationships can constantly be altered for good,'' said Bush, in Hanoi to attend the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Bush came to preach free markets in the Pacific rim but, weakened by his Republicans' stinging defeat in last week's mid-term elections, he arrived without a historic trade deal he had hoped to present to America's former Vietnamese foes.

Trying to reassure Asian countries about his ability to deliver on trade liberalisation, Bush told Vietnam's communist leadership he was committed to pushing through the promised agreement to normalise trade with their country.

''I believe it's going to happen,'' he predicted in talks at the presidential palace. The accord was held up by the House of Representatives this week, raising doubts about Bush's clout in the Democrat-controlled Congress taking power in January.

Bush told Vietnamese leaders he was impressed by their embrace of economic reforms but also ''stressed the importance of working on the human rights front'', White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

Thousands of Vietnamese, some smiling and waving, some impassive, some astride motorbikes and bicycles, lined the streets of Bush's motorcade route from the airport to Hanoi, a city struck regularly by US, bombers during the war.

Bush told reporters he found it poignant driving by the Hanoi lake into which former POW and Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, parachuted when his fighter jet was shot down during the war.

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