Buddhist dissident allowed to leave Vietnam

Hanoi, Vietnam (ap) — A Vietnamese Buddhist dissident, jailed two years for religious beliefs, has been allowed to leave Vietnam for exile, human rights groups said.

Thich Tri Luc, 50, arrived in a Scandinavian country, said a joint statement by London-based Amnesty International and New York-based Human Rights Watch. Sweden’s embassy in Hanoi said he was accepted for asylum in that country.

“When a devout Buddhist is forced to go into exile to practice his religion safely, it’s clear that Vietnam will simply not tolerate any independent thought or institutions,” said a Human Rights Watch official.

Luc, a member of the banned Unified Buddhist Church, was detained and imprisoned numerous times. He fled to Cambodia in early 2002, was recognized by the United Nations as a political refugee and disappeared from a guest house.

A year later, Vietnam announced that Luc was imprisoned in Ho Chi Minh City and faced trial for undermining the government.

Religion News Service names new editor

Washington (ap) — Mark O’Keefe, a national correspondent covering values and philanthropy for Newhouse News Service, was named the next editor of Religion News Service, a nonsectarian agency owned by Newhouse’s parent company.

O’Keefe, 43, who takes over in September, was formerly a religion writer for The Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va. He is a graduate of Marquette University and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Regent University.

He succeeds David E. Anderson, 62, a 37-year veteran of the religion beat, who will move to Montana and become senior editor of the service. Anderson, longtime religion writer with United Press International, joined Religion News Service in 1991 and was named its sixth editor in 1997.

The service, launched 70 years ago, covers the field for both secular and religious subscribers.