Vietnamese and Americans will work together to support humanitarian efforts in cleaning up "agent orange" in Vietnam

Seven prominent Vietnamese and Americans will work together to support humanitarian efforts in cleaning up wartime dioxin, or "agent orange" in Vietnam, the U.S.-based Ford Foundation said. The Foundation said the policy makers, scientists and business figures "aim to build a collective, bipartisan humanitarian response where diplomatic discussion alone has proved difficult" in resolving a bitter war legacy.

The announcement, the latest by Americans and Vietnamese on the sensitive issue, was made during the visit to the United States by President Nguyen Minh Triet. He is the first head of state of communist-ruled Vietnam to be welcomed by Washington since the war ended in 1975. Toxins that Vietnam says affected millions of people over three generations are a thorn in otherwise friendly ties built up over 12 years since Washington and Hanoi established diplomatic relations. The U.S. government maintains there is no scientific link between the toxins and the disabled.