VZCZCXRO3429
RR RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #1235 1422346
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 222346Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2041
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 1154
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0003
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS HANOI 001235 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO IZ PREL KDEM VM
SUBJECT:  VIETNAM SUPPORTIVE OF NEW GOVERNMENT IN IRAQ 
 
REF: STATE 81632 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The GVN will publicly congratulate the new 
Government of Iraq and will re-extend its invitation to 
senior Iraqi officials to visit Vietnam, including the 
Minister of Trade.  Vietnam says it has a long history of 
friendly relations with Iraq and would like to get them back 
on track.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On May 22, Poloff spoke with Nguyen Anh Dzu, an 
expert at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with almost 40 
years of experience in the West Asia/Africa department. 
Until a few months ago, Dzu was the DCM at the Vietnamese 
Embassy in Baghdad and has been intimately involved in 
Vietnam's relations with Iraq in the past decade.  He was 
among the first wave of Vietnamese diplomats to return to 
Iraq after the war, and strongly supports continued Iraq- 
Vietnam relations. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In response to reftel demarche,  Dzu said that 
Vietnam would in all likelihood not be able to provide 
material assistance to Iraq because of the pressing need to 
apply all available resources to domestic anti-poverty 
programs, but Iraq"absolutely will receive Vietnam's 
spiritual suport."  Vietnam has sent messages of 
congratulatins to Iraq's interim governments even when 
othercountries did not, Dzu observed, and said that Vienam 
will issue its congratulations to Iraq "soon." 
 
¶4. (SBU) "Vietnam will do whatever it can to restore 
friendly, historic Vietnam-Iraq relations."  The GVN has 
been "proactive" in inviting Irqi officials to visit 
Vietnam already; the GVN etended invitations to the 
Minister of Trade to viit Vietnam in November 2004, July 
2005 and most ecently in March 2006 during the visit of an 
Irai government delegation from the Ministry of Finane. 
"We hope there will be a visit from senior Iraq officials 
soon," Dzu said. 
 
BOARDMAN