March 24, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1428

HANOI: A Vietnamese court on Friday sentenced a former deputy trade minister to 14 years' jail for accepting bribes in return for lucrative quotas to export textiles to the United States.

Mai Van Dau, 64, was found guilty by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court of taking a total of $6,000 in bribes from garment companies in 2003 and 2004, said a court official.

The court imposed a heavier sentence than the 10 to 12 years demanded by prosecutors in Vietnam's first major graft trial since Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung took office last year vowing to crack down on endemic corruption.

Twelve other defendants in the case also received jail terms.

The court reserved its heaviest punishment for Le Van Thang, the former deputy head of the Trade Ministry's import-export department, who received 17 years' jail for organising most of the bribes.-—AFP