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Vietnamese American Vigilante

By Associated Press

Vietnamese American Le Sun Bao, who is accused of trying to overthrow Vietnam’s communist government, has escaped from a Cambodian jail.

Military court officials said on April 22 that Le, 50, got away from prison guards. Le, who had been awaiting trial Phnom Penh since his arrest on Nov. 17, had escaped from military custody April 13 during a visit to a military hospital, said Maj. Gen. Sao Sok, chief prosecutor for the military court that was to try him.

Le travels with a U.S. passport and says he is an American, but at the time of his arrest the U.S. Embassy declined to confirm his nationality. His hometown is not known.

An embassy official said Sunday he was unaware of the reports that Le had escaped, and declined to comment further.

Cambodian authorities claim they have evidence Le was scheming against Hanoi and working in conjunction with at least one Cambodian anti-communist group, the Khmer Serei, or Free Khmer. They suspected he was a member of Free Vietnam, a U.S.-based anti-Hanoi group.

Cambodia, which shares a 760-mile border with eastern neighbor Vietnam, has long been used as a base for Vietnamese groups opposed to communist rule in their country.

When asked how he had escaped, Sao Sok said: “I’m not sure how … Maybe a guard was careless.”

Sao Sok said guards would be investigated for negligence. A second military court official said there were signs Le’s escape was linked to “corruption.”

“He was brought to the hospital because he was suffering from high blood pressure and walking with a stick,” Sao Sok said.

Authorities were searching for Le and said he was not in possession of his passport to leave the country.

In the 1980s, the presence of Vietnamese opposition groups in Cambodia was tolerated by guerrilla groups opposed to the then Hanoi-backed communist government in Cambodia. But since communism crumbled and relative peace was established in Cambodia in the early 1990s, police loyal to the formerly communist ruling party have several times rounded up Vietnamese activists for deportation.