Arafat to visit Vietnam this week

The Vietnamese government announced that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will pay an official visit to Vietnam later this week.

A statement released by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and published on Wednesday by Vietnamese dailies said Arafat will arrive in Vietnam on Friday and will leave the next day.

Vietnam keeps friendly relations with the Palestinian leadership, and Arafat has repeatedly visited Hanoi.

Arafat is expected to attend an international meeting in Japan to discuss the donations given to the Palestinian self-rule territories before he heads for Vietnam.