Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese embassies in foreigncountries on October 5 opened the books of condolence for former GeneralSecretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Do Muoi, whopassed away on October 1.

At the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, many Japanese officialsand friends expressed their sympathies over the death of the former PartyGeneral Secretary.

Among the mourners were Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives Tadamori Oshima, Deputy Speaker ofthe House of Representatives Hirotaka Akamatsu, Deputy Foreign Minister NorikazuSuzuki, Mie prefecture’s Governor Eikei Suzuki, Special Advisor ofthe Japan-Vietnam ParliamentaryFriendship Alliance Tsutomu Takebe, and Japan-Vietnam Special Ambassador Sugi Ryotaro.

TheAmbassadors of Laos, Thailand, and Bulgaria to Japan also paid tribute to theformer Party leader.

Addressingthe ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong highlighted the greatcontributions of the former Party chief to the revolutionary cause of theVietnamese Party, State, and people.

Theformer Party leader set a bright example for generations of Vietnamese tofollow, he said.

Writingin the funeral book, Deputy Foreign Minister Norikazu Suzuki lauded the formerParty General Secretary for his contributions to Vietnam’s development, as wellas towards cooperative relations between the two countries.

Alsoon October 5, the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand held a minute’s silence forformer Party General Secretary Do Muoi.

Thailand’sformer Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai was the first to write in the condolencebook.

Representativesof overseas Vietnamese in Thailand, as well as ambassadors and representatives ofdiplomatic missions of Cuba, Singapore, Australia, and Laos paid their lastrespects to the former leader.

Inthe Republic of Korea (RoK), Deputy Foreign Minister Cho Hyun; Lee Jae-Hwi, arepresentative of the ruling Democratic Party; and Ly Thua Vinh (Korean name  Lee Seung Young), arepresentative of the Ly family, paid homage to the former Vietnamese Partychief.

Delegationsof foreign embassies in the RoK, including Russia, Laos, Qatar, Nigeria, PapuaNew Guinea, Panama, Kazakhstan, the US, the UAE, Cambodia, and the Ivory Coast,also came to the ceremony.

Themourners extended their deep sympathies to the family of the former leader, aswell as the Party, State, and people of Vietnam. The ceremony will last untilOctober 6.

The funeral of comrade Do Muoi will beorganised in national mourning etiquette.

The respect-paying ceremony will start at 7am onOctober 6 at the National Funeral Hall, No. 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street, Hanoi andrun until 7:30am on October 7.

The memorial service will be held at 9am onOctober 7 at the National Funeral Hall, No. 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street, Hanoi.The burial ceremony will take place from 1pm the same day in his native Dong Mycommune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi.

During the two-day national mourning on October6-7, national flags will be flown at half-mast at State offices and publicplaces, and recreational and entertainment activities will be stopped.–VNA