U.S., Vietnam OK Pact on Seized Government Sites

HANOI — The United States and Vietnam have reached agreement on the fate of U.S. government properties seized when Communist forces won the Vietnam War nearly 20 years ago, U.S. officials said Monday.

The agreement, initialed in Hanoi on Friday, includes the former U.S. Embassy in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, from whose roof helicopters lifted Americans and Vietnamese in a last-minute evacuation during the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

The deal is expected to be signed by top officials next month, clearing the way for the two former enemies to open diplomatic liaison offices in each other’s capitals. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides were aiming to open the offices by the end of this year, a target set by the Hanoi government months ago.