For only the third time in 21 years the two top leaders of an outlawed Buddhist church, both under house arrest in Vietnam, have been allowed a face-to-face meeting, sources said.
Thich Huyen Quang, 86, head of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), met with his deputy Thich Quang Do, 75, on Monday in Ho Chi Minh City, the Paris-based International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB) said.
The meeting at the city's Thanh Minh Zen Monastery, where Do has been held since being placed under house arrest for two years in June 2001, lasted the whole afternoon and the talks focused on the future of their church, it said.
"This could be a major development in a move towards a more pluralistic society in Vietnam, albeit with Vietnamese characteristics and under the control of the Communist Party," said Carl Thayer, a long-time Vietnam watcher at the Australian Defence Force Academy.
Quang arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday.
He was refused permission to stay with UBCV monks and was taken directly to the An Quang Pagoda, the headquarters of the state-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church (VBC), where he was met by a crowd of more than 1,000 Buddhists, the IBIB said.
The talks between the two monks follow Quang's surprise high-profile meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Hanoi on April 2 following surgery on a feared cancerous growth near his eye.
Diplomats hailed that meeting as representing a gradual thaw in the communist regime's attitude towards the UBCV, but said it was too soon to say if Monday's talks meant recognition of the church was around the corner.
"The meeting between Quang and Do is positive. It is definitely a step in the right direction. The government is finally recognizing that totally controlling them is not appropriate," said one Hanoi-based diplomat.
"But if you wanted to be cynical you could say that there has been no progress for a while in the government's dealings with the Catholic church and the Protestant communities in the northwest and the Central Highlands, so maybe it just reflects their recognition that the UBCV is no longer a threat."
Hanoi banned the UBCV in 1981 after it refused to come under the control of the VBC.
Quang has been kept under effective house arrest near the Quang Phuoc Pagoda in the remote central province of Quang Ngai since 1982.
The first meeting between the two monks since then took place in March 1999 and was followed by brief talks in February 2001.
Monday's meeting was also the first time Do has received a visit since he was placed under "administrative detention" for launching an "Appeal for Democracy in Vietnam" and planning to lead a UBCV delegation to escort Quang to Ho Chi Minh City for medical treatment.
Do had previously spent 18 years in prison and under house arrest on charges of "abusing democratic rights and freedoms to harm the state".
"This landmark meeting between the two UBCV leaders has immense significance, not only for UBCV but for all dissidents and human rights defenders in Vietnam," said IBIB director Vo Van Ai.
Human rights groups have long charged Vietnam with smothering all dissent and routinely jailing democracy activists, critics of the regime and church leaders who do not recognise the state's authority.