CHRETIEN CONDEMNS CANADIAN'S EXECUTION

Rift with Vietnam widens as Ottawa steps up pressure

OTTAWA - The diplomatic rift between Canada and Vietnam deepened
yesterday as more links were severed and Prime Minister Jean Chretien
condemned last week's execution of a Canadian woman.

"We deplore this absolutely unacceptable conduct of the government of
Vietnam," Chretien told the House of Commons yesterday, which resumed
after a two-week Easter break.

"We have made all the steps possible to make sure that they understand
that such actions cannot be acceptable and the Canadian government
condemns this absolutely," he said.

Chretien's statement in the Commons marked his first reaction to the
execution last week of Nguyen Thi Hiep, 43, who was bound and gagged
and taken before a firing squad at a Hanoi prison. In 1997, Nguyen was
convicted of smuggling 5.4 kilograms of heroin, hidden in an art
object she tried to take out of Vietnam, where she had gone to visit a
sick relative.

Canadian police believe Nguyen might have been duped into carrying the
drugs.

Her mother, Tran Thi Cam, who is 74, was also convicted and given a
life sentence and remains in jail.

In reaction to the execution, Canada had already withdrawn its
ambassador, cancelled a program to help Vietnam get into the World
Trade Organization and boycotted weekend celebrations of the 25th
anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

Yesterday, Canada stepped up the pressure, cutting off all contacts
with Vietnam at the ministerial level and also cancelling
consultations on millions of dollars' worth of new aid programs.

And International Co-operation Minister Maria Minna hinted that if
Vietnam doesn't return the remains of Nguyen and release her
74-year-old mother from prison, Canada will take other steps.

Minna said that while Canada's existing $64 million annual aid program
with Vietnam will stay in place - for now - consultations on new
projects have been cancelled.

The existing $64 million aid is distributed on a number of fronts, to
support democratization and economic reform, the justice system and
rural development.

Major projects in the pipeline include a $3 million initiative to
promote good governance, a $5 million proposal on legal reform, $10
million to reduce rural poverty in mountainous communities in Thanh
Hoa province and a $7 million venture for the rural poor in Soc Trang
province.

"All ministerial contacts with Vietnam are off the table, they've been
suspended and we're reviewing all of the options at this time," Minna
told reporters.

"This is our first step, we're looking at what kind of relationship
we're going to have with Vietnam at this point."

The Commons resumed yesterday pretty much where it left off before the
two-week break, with opposition questions about alleged abuse of human
resources department grants.

With the exception of a one-week recess in the third week of May, the
House will sit until it rises for the summer, probably on June 23.

Opposition critics took every opportunity yesterday to jab Chretien
about his gaffe-prone performance on his recent tour of the Middle
East.

Progressive Conservative House leader Peter MacKay
(Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough) accused Chretien of not doing enough
to try to save Nguyen's life and criticized him for remaining silent
for a week after her killing.

"On the heels of a disastrous trip to the Middle East where the Prime
Minister's ineptitude with regard to foreign affairs was evident, the
Prime Minister remained completely silent on this international
tragedy," MacKay said.

Minna told reporters Canada is putting pressure on Vietnam to release
Nguyen's mother and return the dead woman's body.

"At the very minimum at this point we want them to acknowledge and
send home the remains, the body. The family has a right to at least
have the body of their mother home. As well as the release of the
mother who is still in jail, especially given the fact they have given
amnesty to thousands of their own," Minna said.

Like Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, who said in an interview
from Africa last week that he was personally insulted by Vietnam's
action, Minna said her first reaction was "pure anger because I felt
that we were a country that was very friendly with Vietnam."