Wartime Vietnam double-agent dies

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A Vietnamese spy who worked for the CIA and Western news organisations during the Vietnam War while remaining a communist agent, has died aged 79.

Pham Xuan An was the first Vietnamese full-time staff correspondent for a major US publication, working primarily for Time magazine.

Yet at the same time he was feeding information to communist guerrillas.

Mr An's double life remained a secret for almost 30 years, from 1959 until his confession in the 1980s.

During the 1960s and '70s he was one of the most influential journalists working in Vietnam.

His network of contacts gave him access to almost every part of the government and military of the former American-backed regime.

He said he never reported any false information in all the years he worked as a journalist. However, after the victory of the Vietnamese communist forces in 1975 he was regarded with suspicion by his bosses.

Double life

Born in 1927, he joined the communists as a teenager and fought against the French colonial administration.

After the defeat of the French, his bosses directed him to spy on the Americans. He gained their trust and was hired by the CIA and also advised the South Vietnamese intelligence services.

At the same time he worked for British news agency Reuters and Time magazine. It was a huge surprise to his former colleagues when, in the 1980s, he announced his true allegiance.

Although he had studied in the United States and had a great respect for the country, he said working for the communists had been the only way to ensure Vietnam's independence.

After the war ended, Mr An was regarded with suspicion by the communist authorities and was sent to a re-education camp. He was denied permission to visit the US.

Last year he told former journalist colleagues he regarded Vietnam's current leaders as more corrupt than the regime which he had helped to bring down.

A chain-smoker, Mr An died of emphysema in hospital in the former Vietnamese capital of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City.