Vietnam releases pro-democracy dissident to US

HANOI, Vietnam Officials say Vietnam has released a dissident writer and pro-democracy activist and deported her to the United States on humanitarian grounds.An official with the Ministry of Public Security said Friday that Tran Khai Thanh Thuy was released from prison Wednesday and put on a flight to the U.S. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Beau Miller praises Vietnam for freeing Thuy and says her daughter will also be admitted to the U.S.The Vietnamese government released a statement saying Thuy was being resettled in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.The 50-year-old was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after being convicted last year in an assault on two people stemming from a traffic dispute.