Vietnam Frees U.S. Citizen Convicted of Terrorism
Woman's Case Had Blocked Passage of Major U.S. Trade Bill Ahead of Bush Visit

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 13, 2006

A U.S. citizen convicted of terrorism in a Vietnamese court has been released and will arrive today in the United States, her daughter said yesterday.

The case of Orlando resident Thuong Nguyen "Cuc" Foshee had complicated efforts by the Bush administration to pass a major trade bill with Vietnam. The House was due to take up the legislation today. Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) had blocked the trade bill from coming to the floor of the Senate, and on Friday he indicated he would continue to thwart the bill's passage until Foshee arrived home.

A judge at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on Friday sentenced Foshee and six other defendants to 15 months in prison, with credit for time served while awaiting trial, which would have meant she would not be deported until next month. The defendants admitted that they had broken Vietnamese law but denied any link to terrorism.

Foshee's daughter, Elizabeth McCausland, said in an interview yesterday that she was told her mother had been released early for "humanitarian reasons."

President Bush will arrive in Hanoi on Friday for an Asian economic summit and has pressed for the trade bill's passage before he leaves Washington.

Vietnam, the fastest-growing market for U.S. products in Asia, was recently accepted as the 150th member of the World Trade Organization. A bill granting Vietnam permanent normal trade relations is necessary for U.S. firms to benefit from the low tariffs that Vietnam will introduce as a WTO member.

Foshee was born in Vietnam and came to the United States after marrying a U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant. She was active in protests in the United States against the communist government of Vietnam.

Foshee and the other defendants, including two other U.S. citizens, were accused of plotting to broadcast anti-communist radio messages under the direction of an anti-government group based in California. Vietnam considers the group, called the Government of Free Vietnam, to be a terrorist organization.

One member, Vietnamese-born U.S. resident Nguyen Huu Chanh, has been suspected of planning bomb attacks on Vietnamese embassies. Chanh is detained in South Korea, but a Seoul court has refused to extradite him to Vietnam.