Vietnam PM sees US as crucial trade partner

VIETNAM aims to boost multi-faceted ties with the United States, especially in trade, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said on Sunday as he left on a pathbreaking visit to Washington. Khai is the first leader of the communist nation to visit the United States since the end of the Vietnam War, affirming the blossoming relationship between the two former war foes.

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Taliban hold 31; US envoy clashes with Pakistan

Taliban guerrillas said they were holding 30 policemen and a local official at an Afghan district headquarters and planned to put them on trial for supporting the U.S.-backed government. Amid a spate of violence elsewhere in the troubled south, the outgoing US ambassador courted trouble with key ally Pakistan by saying there was a big chance Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was hiding there.

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