WWW- Vietnamese authorities want to question Gary Glitter on reports that he had sexual relationships with girls under 16, the age of consent.
The foreign ministry told the Guardian that the former pop star, real name Paul Francis Gadd, allegedly shared his home in Vung Tau with girls as young as 15.
Police have reportedly interviewed one 15-year-old found living at the home, although her relationship with him was unclear.
Sexual abuse of children has a maximum penalty of death in Vietnam.
Glitter, 61, served two months in Britain in 1999 after admitting 54 charges related to child pornography.
Back story: June, 2002:Vietnam says it will deport Gary Glitter if he is found in the country.
The disgraced pop star is believed to have entered Vietnam from Cambodia.
Officials say they will not let him stay if he is found.
Glitter, 57, who served a four-month prison sentence in Britain in 1999 for possessing child pornography, left Cambodia last week and headed to Vietnam, according to Cambodian police.
Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said immigration officials had checked their records and found no indication that Glitter had entered the country.
“However, they will continue checking,” Thanh said. “Vietnam never harbours such criminals.”
She said the government would notify international police if he is found. “I am sure we cannot let him stay in the country,” she said. “We think that (child pornography) is a crime and he is a criminal.”
Glitter has lived in Cambodia for the past seven months. Cambodian authorities say they have not deported him as he has not broken Cambodian law.
Last week, Lt. Col. Pol Pithey, chief of the Phnom Penh police’s immigration department, said Glitter’s lawyer had told him that the former pop star was going to neighboring Vietnam for some time.
Glitter, who rose to fame with a glam-rock act in the 1970s, is on the sex offender’s register in his home country.
Among Glitter’s 1970s hit songs were “I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am),” “Do You Wanna Touch,” and “Rock And Roll (Part 2).”