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BANGKOK (Reuters) - Up to 4,000 ethnic Hmong, remnants of a U.S.-backed anti-communist guerrilla army in the Laotian jungles during the Vietnam War, are ready to surrender after 30 years on the run, a U.S. activist said on Thursday. Ex-California police officer Ed Szendrey, who was detained at the weekend by the Laotian communist government for helping 173 women, children and elderly people give themselves up, said many more Hmong were waiting to come in from the cold. "We've had indications that there are nearly three to four thousand ready to surrender," Szendrey told a news conference in the Thai...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Rep. Phil Crane, chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, wants to bring to the floor H.R.3943, a bill that would extend nondiscriminatory, most-favored nation treatment (called mistakenly “normal trade relations” in U.S. parlance) to the products of the Lao People´s Democratic Republic. Such an action at this time would only bring disgrace upon the House of Representatives given the brutal nature of the communist Pathet Lao regime. Any trade policy action should provide real benefits to the American economy while advancing American interests and values in world...

THE remains of an Australian journalist shot almost 30 years ago have been found by US authorities. The bodies of Neil Sharman and American tourist Charles Dean, brother of front-running US presidential candidate Howard Dean, have been uncovered in a grave in central Laos. The discovery ends a 30-year mystery after the men were taken by communist forces in September 1974. Yesterday Mr Sharman's brother Ian told the Herald Sun the men were handcuffed, executed, and their bodies thrown into a bomb crater. He said US army officials had told him one body had been found on top of the...

Pentagon Has Uncovered Remains From Suspected Burial Site of Howard Dean's BrotherBy Nedra Pickler Associated Press WriterPublished: Nov 18, 2003 WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon said Tuesday it has uncovered remains from the site in Laos where Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean's younger brother was believed to have been killed nearly 30 years ago. The remains have not been officially identified, but were uncovered in a grave along with some of Charles Dean's personal items, said Howard Dean's campaign spokeswoman, Tricia Enright. The candidate was notified of the discovery a few days ago, Enright said. Charles Dean was a 24-year-old...

Pentagon Uncovers Remains From Suspected Laos Burial Site of Howard Dean's Brother The Associated Press WASHINGTON Nov. 18 — The Pentagon said Tuesday that it has uncovered remains from the site in Laos where Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean's younger brother was believed to have been killed nearly 30 years ago. The remains have not been identified, but are being shipped to Hawaii, said Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon office in charge of POW and MIA issues. Charles Dean was a 24-year-old graduate of the University of North Carolina when he and a companion, Neil Sharman of Australia, were...

International diplomatic efforts are under way to secure the release of two respected European journalists who were this week given 15-year prison sentences after setting out to explore a remarkable forgotten legacy of the CIA's covert operations in the Vietnam War. The harsh sentences passed in Laos against the Belgian reporter Thierry Falise, 46, Vincent Reynaud, a 38-year-old French photographer, and their translator Naw Karl Mua - an American citizen - have outraged human rights activists and journalists.But the affair has also proved counter-productive for the Lao authorities - who preside over one of the world's last surviving Communist regimes...