Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh

A leading rights group Saturday called on the Thai government to allow 158 Lao Hmong refugees, who have been detained for three years pending deportation, to be resettled in four western countries. New York-based Human Rights Watch said the group were being "held in poor and abusive conditions" and should be allowed to leave for the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Australia, which have agreed to resettle them. "Thai authorities have kept Lao Hmong refugees in fear and uncertainty for years to pressure them into giving up hope of refuge in Thailand or resettlement elsewhere," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director. "The ... Read Full Story

Charges against a revered former Hmong guerrilla leader accused of plotting to overthrow the communist government of Laos have been dropped, according to US justice officials. A spokesman for the United States Attorney's office in Sacramento, northern California told AFP all charges against ageing warlord Vang Pao, 79, who was arrested in 2007 in Sacramento, had been dismissed. A statement said that while 12 other people will be prosecuted for attempting to bring down the Laotian government, charges against the CIA-trained Pao had been dismissed as a "matter of discretion." "In our measured judgement and based on the totality of the evidence in the ... Read Full Story

Charges against a revered former Hmong guerrilla leader accused of plotting to overthrow Laos' communist government have been dropped, according to US justice officials. A spokesman for the US Attorney's office in Sacramento, northern California told AFP all charges against ageing warlord Vang Pao, 79, who was arrested in 2007 in Sacramento, had been dismissed. Although 12 other people will be prosecuted for attempting to bring down the Laotian government, charges against the CIA-trained Pao had been dismissed as a "matter of discretion," a statement said. "In our measured judgement and based on the totality of the evidence in the case and the circumstances ... Read Full Story

Charges against a former Hmong guerrilla leader accused of plotting to overthrow the communist government of Laos while in exile in California have been dropped, justice officials said Friday. A spokesman for the United States Attorneys office in Sacramento told AFP that all charges against ageing warlord Vang Pao, 79, who was arrested in 2007 in Sacramento, had been dismissed. A statement said that while 11 other people will be prosecuted for attempting to bring down the Laotian government, charges against the CIA-trained Pao had been dismissed as a "matter of discretion." "In our measured judgement and based on the totality of the evidence ... Read Full Story

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called Sunday for closer business and cultural ties with Southeast Asia to create a common economic community that is a leader in green growth. Lee, who invited leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian nations to commemorate 20 years of relations between the Seoul and the bloc, hailed the expansion of their economic ties. Total trade has grown 11 times over the past two decades to $90.2 billion last year, he said, and is expected to increase to $150 billion by 2015. "We must strengthen our economic partnership, expand cultural exchange and become partners in our common goal of ... Read Full Story