VIETNAM?S legislature joined a protest against American and European criticism over religious freedom in the communist country and said diplomatic ties could be hurt by ?negative resolutions?.

The National Assembly issued a rare statement on Tuesday that rejected resolutions passed separately by the US House of Representatives and the European Parliament this month that condemned Hanoi?s crackdown on an outlawed Buddhist group.

?These wrongful, negative resolutions do not serve the relations between the United States and the European Union on the one hand and Vietnam on the other,? Vietnam?s highest lawmaking body said in the statement.

The foreign lawmakers have urged Vietnam to permit the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), which was supplanted by a state-sanctioned Buddhist organisation in 1981, to operate and for leaders who have been detained to be released.

Tension with UBCV swirled afresh in October after the group attempted to re-establish its legal status. Hanoi slapped two-year travel restrictions on four monks and is investigating the group?s two leaders for possessing ?State secrets?.

Vietnamese officials summoned EU representatives in Hanoi to explain the European Parliament?s resolution on Tuesday, diplomatic sources said.

The EU held a ?human rights dialogue? with Vietnam yesterday, when diplomats from Italy, the Netherlands and the European Commission spoke with Foreign Ministry, culture and information, religious and police officials.

Ten people arrested

The European group ?expressed its concern and raised questions about the free exercise of fundamental freedoms in Vietnam,? said a statement from the embassy of Italy, which represents the current EU presidency.

The wide-ranging talks which lasted five hours covered the banned Buddhist group, cyber dissidents, status of ?prisoners of conscience? and the rights of ethnic minorities, sources familiar with the meeting said. ?It was quite friendly,? said one source.

?The dialogue was conducted in an atmosphere of openness and frankness,? a statement from the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

The issue of cyber dissidents ? those who have been punished for using the Internet to criticise the government or push for reform ? was raised as Amnesty International published a report yesterday on the subject.

It said at least ten people in Vietnam have been arrested and some given long prison terms for publishing dissent or sharing information with overseas Vietnamese groups via the Internet.

?In Vietnam, pushing the ?send? button can result in dire consequences including years in prison and family and friends put under 24-hour surveillance,? the rights group said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung denounced the Amnesty report. In a statement yesterday, he said, ?We totally reject the distorted, non-objective information about Vietnam.?

Vietnam recognises six religions and permits only a single official representative group of each to operate. Hanoi denies it represses religion.