HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - A Buddhist support group says Vietnamese police have surrounded a temple where the leader of a banned Buddhist sect is being detained so that he cannot be taken away for medical treatment.
Anyone attempting to approach the temple in central Quang Ngai province is strip-searched, the Paris-based International Buddhist Information Bureau said Tuesday.
The church's patriarch, Thich Huyen Quang, 83, suffers from high blood pressure, arthritis and stomach ulcers, and has been under house arrest since 1992.
The sect's second-highest leader, Thich Quang Do, planned to go to the province over the weekend to escort the elderly monk to southern Ho Chi Minh City for medical care.
But Vietnam's Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that Do has also been placed under house arrest.
Do's house arrest stemmed from a conviction in 1995 on charges of ``undermining the policy of unity and abusing freedom and democracy encroaching on the interests of the state, social organizations and individuals,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Sy Vuong Ha said.
The U.S. State Department expressed concern Monday over Do's house arrest and called on the government of Vietnam to respect the autonomy of all religions ``and to allow all persons to practice their religious faiths freely.''
Quang's Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam is one of a number of independent religious groups banned by Vietnam's Communist government, which permits only seven religious organizations to practice. The church has refused any leadership imposed by the government.
The crackdown on the church could become an issue in U.S. congressional debate, expected to begin this week, on an agreement to normalize trade relations with Vietnam.
Opponents of the agreement have brought up restrictions on human rights and religion as reasons to delay it. Vietnam has consistently maintained that its citizens enjoy religious freedom.
AP-NY-06-05-01 0859EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.