Former "Hanoi Hilton" jailer endorses McCain

HAIPHONG, Vietnam — John McCain has an unusual endorsement — from the Vietnamese jailer who says he held him captive for about five years as a POW and now considers him a friend.

"If I were an American voter, I would vote for Mr. John McCain," Tran Trong Duyet said Friday, sitting in his living room in the northern city of Haiphong, surrounded by black-and-white photos of a much-younger version of himself and former Vietnam War prisoners.

At the same time, he denies prisoners of war were tortured. Despite detailed POW accounts and physical wounds, Tran claims the presumed Republican presidential nominee made up beatings and solitary confinement in an attempt to win votes.

His statements seem to echo the communist leadership's overall line on America: It insists the torture claims are fabricated, but that Vietnam now considers the U.S. a friend and wants to lay the past to rest. Tran said one of the reasons he likes McCain for president is the candidate's willingness to forgive and look to the future.

Tran, 75, grew testy during the interview when repeatedly questioned about torture and why so many other former POWs say they too were mistreated. He preferred to talk about McCain as an old buddy.

"He's tough, has extreme political views and is very conservative," Tran said. "He's very loyal to the U.S. military, to his beliefs and to his country. In all of our debates, he never admitted that the war was a mistake."

McCain spent 5 ½ years behind bars in Hanoi. He still bears the evidence of his wounds and has described being repeatedly bound and beaten by his captors. After his plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile during a bombing mission over Hanoi in 1967, McCain ejected and suffered a broken leg and two broken arms and was briefly knocked unconscious. The Vietnamese mob who found him smashed his shoulder and he was bayoneted.

He says medical attention was delayed in an attempt to get him to reveal information and he was held in solitary confinement for over two years.

McCain has returned to Vietnam several times and visited what's left of the old Hoa Lo prison, now a museum.

McCain was instrumental in pushing for normal relations between the two former foes, and the friendship was highlighted by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's trip to see President Bush at the White House on Wednesday.

McCain's wife, Cindy, was in southern Vietnam last week doing charity work. She said if her husband wins the election, the couple would delight in paying a presidential visit to the country.