Australia urged Vietnam to spare two Australians...

Australia urged Vietnam to spare two Australians convicted of drug trafficking from the firing squad. Visiting Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he received assurances from Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that the government was giving "careful and proper" consideration to appeals for clemency made by two Australian citizens of Vietnamese origin on death row for drug trafficking. "I've made the point that Australia supports those bids of clemency," Smith said. Jasmine Luong, 34, of Sydney, and Tony Manh, 40, of New South Wales were both sentenced to death in 2007 in separate heroin trafficking cases. At least four Vietnamese-Australians convicted of drug trafficking have had their death sentences commuted following requests from the Australian government.