Vietnam denies existence of outlawed Buddhist group
Updated
The communist government in Vietnam has denied the existence of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
The statement came as crowds gathered outside a monastery for the funeral of the country's leading dissident Buddhist, Thich Huyen Quang.
He was the patriarch of the group which has refused to come under state control and was outlawed in the early 1980s.
He died last Saturday, aged 87.
Foreign ministry spokesman, Le Dung, in reply to a question at a regular media briefing, said there is no organisation called UBCV.
He says the founders of the Nguyen Thieu monastery, his followers and his family are organised the funeral.
