Vietnam breaks media silence over rural unrest



HANOI, Sept 8 (Reuter) - Vietnam's communist government on Monday broke
months of media silence over unrest in a northern province, publishing
the first public account of the problems in an official newspaper.

An article in the Communist Party's daily, Nhan Dan, said residents in
128 villages of Thai Binh province had raised concerns over an increase
in local taxes and fees, and it blamed local officials for failing to
respond promptly.

It said villagers had organised themselves into groups to voice their
disquiet, but added that in some places the situation had become serious
with individuals seeking to use the unrest for their own ends.

``Discontented elements and those with private disagreements, even some
people with criminal records, have taken advantage of opportunities to
'get involved in the game' and make the situation more complex and serious,
'' it said.

``Those people with their unhealthy purposes have taken advantage of
people's legitimate complaints, leading to extremist actions.''

It did not elaborate on what those actions were.

The unrest in Thai Binh, a coastal province southeast of Hanoi, began in
May when thousands of angry farmers and their families converged on the
provincial capital to protest against alleged corruption.

The situation turned violent in late May and June when the homes of
several local officials were burnt to the ground and some officials were
beaten.

Hanoi has kept a tight rein on information about the problems. The area
remains off-limits to foreign journalists and until Monday the issue had
not been reported in the domestic media.

Nonetheless, analysts say the issue has emerged as a prime concern for
party and government leaders, who are already tackling a range of economic
and other problems as the country's decade-old reform process runs through
the doldrums.

A member of the elite politburo has visited the area on at least two
occasions to assess the situation for himself. Reports from Thai Binh
indicate the mood is still tense, but efforts are being made to bring the
situation under control.

A foreign ministry spokesman last week dubbed some foreign news reports
of the situation as distortions of the truth and said there was no
movement in Thai Binh against the central government.

Tran Quang Hoan, of the foreign ministry press department, said some
local people had filed complaints rather than protested and shrugged off
reports that local officials had died in violence as ``sheer fabrication.''