Dar es Salaam, April 30 -- VIETNAM: THOUSANDS of Vietnamese have waved red flags and sang patriotic songs as a grand military parade held in Ho Chi Minh City concluded Vietnams 50th anniversary celebrations of the end of war with the United States.

Wednesdays event commemorated the first act of the countrys reunification on April 30, 1975, when communist-run North Vietnam seized Saigon, the capital of the US-backed South, renamed Ho Chi Minh City shortly after the war in honour of the Norths founding leader.

A lotus-shaped float carrying a portrait of Ho Chi Minh was near the front of the parade as fighter jets and helicopters carrying red flags flew overhead.

“I am proud of having contributed to liberating the south,” said...