Condemned Australian's mother appeals to the Queen

SYDNEY - The mother of an Australian drug smuggler who has been condemned to death in Singapore has written to the Queen asking her to intervene, lawyers said yesterday.

Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, of Vietnamese extraction, was sentenced to death after being arrested at Singapore's Changi airport three years ago with almost 400 grams of heroin.

An appeal for clemency has already been dismissed.

Nguyen's mother, Kim Nguyen, had now written to the Queen, the condemned man's lawyer Julian McMahon said on Sunday, holding a copy of the handwritten letter, in Vietnamese.

The two-page letter will be translated and sent to the Queen, who is Australia's head of state.

"You and I are mothers. You are our leader. You know a mother's love. Please help and intervene," McMahon quoted the letter as saying. He said he expected the Queen would respond.

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer have both said that they do not hold hope that Nguyen's sentence will be commuted.

Downer has already written to his Singapore counterpart, George Yeo, requesting clemency. McMahon on Sunday also called on Howard to intervene.

Australia does not support capital punishment.

A sales executive from Melbourne, Nguyen has been on death row since March last year when he was given a mandatory death sentence. He has said he agreed to the drug run to help his brother who was in debt.

Nguyen was brought to Australia as a refugee baby.

An execution date from Singapore is expected soon.

- REUTERS