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World conference to support Agent Orange victims opens
[March 28, 2006]

World conference to support Agent Orange victims opens


(Comtex Community Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)HANOI, Mar 28, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- An international conference opened
here Tuesday to support the struggle for interests of the victims
of Agent Orange, the defoliant sprayed by the U.S. army in Vietnam
War.

Addressing at the Conference of Agent Orange Victims, Dang Vu
Hiep, president of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent
Orange/Dioxin, said that the world should know more about problems
faced by the victims and support their struggles, including the
Vietnamese victims' lawsuit against U.S. chemical companies.

The legitimate struggle is of significance to not only better
life of the victims, but also the world of peace and justice, he
said
Hiep noted that the two-day conference is also a good
opportunity for victims and delegates from participating countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, German, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam, to explore effects of
Agent Orange on human lives, and exchange experiences in their
struggles for justice and equality.
The U.S. Court of Appeals will hear Vietnamese victims' case
against American chemical producers next month.

In January 2004, local Agent Orange victims brought the suit
against 37 U.S. companies which produced defoliants to the U.S.
district court in Brooklyn, New York. The court of first instance
dismissed the lawsuit, citing a lack of legal basis as the key
reason.

The Vietnam War ended in 1975, but 4.8 million Vietnamese
people have so far been exposed to Agent Orange, of whom some 3
million are victims, said the Vietnam Association for Victims of
Agent Orange/Dioxin.

According to studies of U.S. scientists, the U.S. army forces
dropped some 80 million liters of defoliants, mostly Agent Orange, which contained nearly 400 kilograms of dioxin, an extremely toxic
substance, to Vietnam between 1961 and 1971, the association said.

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