U.S. ambassador bids farewell to Vietnam

Peterson left Hanoi's Noi Bai airport accompanied by his wife Vi Le

HANOI, Vietnam -- America's first post-war ambassador to Vietnam left the country Sunday at the end of his term, calling for reconciliation with a country that once held him as a prisoner of war.

Douglas "Pete" Peterson bid an emotional farewell to American and Vietnamese embassy staff on the tarmac at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport before leaving en route to his home state of Florida.

Peterson, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, was shot down over North Vietnam in 1966 and held prisoner under harsh conditions for more than six years.

Nonetheless during his four-year term as ambassador he pushed hard for reconciliation between the two former enemies.

He said he was leaving proud of the work he had done to bring the two countries closer together.

'Friends not enemies'

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"I am proud that I had some contribution to make...to have the world and the United States look at Vietnam from a positive viewpoint instead of a negative viewpoint, and as a reverse to have the Vietnamese people recognizing Vietnam and America as friends not enemies as we were," he told reporters.

Peterson was seen off at the airport by the foreign ministry's deputy director of protocol, Do Trong Cuong.

Last week, Le Van Bang, Hanoi's former ambassador to Washington and now an assistant foreign minister, praised Peterson's achievements.

He said the departing envoy was a "caring American," who had succeeded in changing Vietnamese feelings from "the bitterness of the war to a love of America."

Peterson said he was proud of his efforts to bring reconciliation between two former foes

For his part Peterson has called on the Bush administration to show "strong leadership" in maintaining the new relationship with Vietnam.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, another Vietnam veteran, is due to visit Hanoi later this month.

"We need to keep building this relationship and he (Powell) is the key player in doing so," Peterson told reporters.

The previous U.S. ambassador to Vietnam left in defeat from Saigon on April 30, 1975, carrying the U.S. flag as he flew out on a military helicopter from the grounds of the former U.S. embassy.

Hours later victorious communist forces overran the capital of the former U.S.-backed state of South Vietnam, then known as Saigon but renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the reunification of the country.

Driving force

The previous US Ambassador, to South Vietnam, left hurriedly in 1975 as North Vietnamese forces entered Saigon

During his term Peterson laid the groundwork for last November's historic reconciliation visit by then-President Bill Clinton.

He was also a driving force behind a landmark bilateral trade agreement signed in July 2000 and now in the U.S. Congress for ratification.

Under Clinton the United States lifted its long-standing trade embargo on Vietnam in 1994 and normalized diplomatic ties a year later.

Peterson, who was appointed to the post by Clinton, is said to be considering running for the Florida state governorship now held by Jeb Bush, brother of U.S. President George W. Bush.

As he left Hanoi he said he was very interested in the possibility of running as a Democrat for the post, but had not yet decided whether he would run.