Vietnam's prime minister, Phan Van Khai, with over 200 officials and businessmen in tow, today begins a groundbreaking visit to the US, intended to bury any lingering bitterness between the former enemies, and enhance business, education and intelligence links.

Mr Khai, a 71-year-old Soviet-trained economic moderniser, will be the first Vietnamese prime minister to visit Washington since the 1975 collapse of US-backed South Vietnam, and the first ever from Hanoi's Communist regime.