Pubdate: Wed, 24 May 2000 Source: Straits Times (Singapore) Copyright: 2000 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Contact: Forum Editor, 390 Kim Seng Road Singapore 239495 Fax: 733-2690 Website: http://straitstimes.asia1.com/ VIETNAM TRIES TO MEND RELATIONS WITH CANADA Hanoi Is Willing To Return The Remains Of An Executed Canadian Woman To Her Family And Release Her Mother HANOI - Vietnam is hoping to ease tensions with Canada by sending back the remains of an executed Canadian woman and considering the release of her sick mother, Vietnamese and Canadian officials said yesterday. Canada froze ministerial-level relations after Nguyen Thi Hiep, a Canadian citizen, was executed on April 24 on a drug smuggling conviction. Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien sent a letter on Friday to his Canadian counterpart, Mr Lloyd Axworthy, saying that Hiep's crime -- smuggling 5.45 kg of heroin -- was serious and that her execution was "justified and correct". However, Mr Nien said Vietnam was willing to exhume and return Hiep's body to her family and strongly consider releasing her elderly mother on humanitarian grounds. Vietnam felt regret and surprise that Canada had restricted relations and hopes normalisation will resume soon, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Phan Thuy Thanh. "I am encouraged by the initial response," Mr Axworthy said in a statement. Hiep and her mother, Tran Thi Cam, 75, were arrested in 1996 when customs inspectors discovered the heroin, worth about US$5 million (S$8.5 million) hidden in the panels of a lacquer painting. Hiep was sentenced to death and her mother life imprisonment. Canadian authorities and rights groups had asked Vietnam to delay the execution because of evidence the two women were duped by smugglers into transporting the heroin. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea