U.S. gives some ground on Agent Orange

HANOI, Vietnam, June 26 (UPI) -- Despite U.S. denials of compensation to Vietnam for injuries caused by the Agent Orange defoliant, Washington has loosened its purse strings.

Since the war in Vietnam ended, Hanoi has claimed 3 million of its citizens have health problems and birth defects from exposure to the chemical, which contains dioxin.

The issue was discussed by U.S. President George Bush and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in Washington last week and the leaders said new but undisclosed actions would be taken in cleaning up contaminated sites, many of them near former U.S. bases.

In a report from Hanoi, a Voice of America correspondent said the United States has increased funding for medical aid to people with disabilities in Vietnam, and Congress has appropriated $3 million for cleanup and treatment of dioxin-related illnesses.

The U.S. Department of Defense has also shown Vietnam's Defense Ministry a two-year study showing how much Agent Orange had been stored and sprayed, and where.

There is also an ongoing class-action damages lawsuit in New York by Vietnamese who claim they were injured by the chemical, the report said.