The paper said the US and Vietnam have wrangled over the question of responsibility for the US military's deployment of Agent Orange for decades. But they are now moving to jointly address at least one important aspect of the spraying's aftermath - environmental damage at Vietnamese "hot spots" like Da Nang.

Last year, Vietnamese and US officials conducted their first joint research project and testing results showed that dioxin levels in Da Nang were as much as 100 times above acceptable international standards. Now the US is planning to co-fund a project to remove massive amounts of the chemical from the soil.

The paper noted that the more politically sensitive issues of responsibility and direct compensation for victims remain unresolved. Although medical authorities estimate that there are more than four million suspected dioxin victims in Vietnam, the United States maintains that there are no conclusive scientific links between Agent Orange and the severe health problems and birth defects that the Vietnamese attribute to dioxin.

Ahead of President George W. Bush's first official visit to Vietnam this week, some people expressed hope that the two countries will take the first steps towards reconciliation on their most divisive wartime issue. They stressed that the US still needs to do far more to right past wrongs while some anticipated that Mr Bush would offer a measure of apology for Agent Orange's wartime use during his visit.

The Ford Foundation announced last Thursday that it is pouring US$2.2 million into environmental restoration, contamination education and victim relief projects relating to Agent Orange. The United Nations Development Program is expected to provide additional research funding for the cleanup effort in the coming months.