NEW YORK, Feb. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The US Justice Department has sought to dismiss a lawsuit by Vietnamese who say they were poisoned by the chemical defoliant Agent Orange used by US forces in the Vietnam War, The New York Times reported Monday.

    The lawsuit, filed on behalf of millions of Vietnamese, accuses US chemical makers of committing crimes against humanity by supplying to US forces Agent Orange, which contains dioxin and is extremely toxic.

    However, the US government, which is not among the accused in the suit to be presided over by US District Judge Jack Weinstein, has contended the claimed effects of Agent Orange are not supported by direct evidence.

    State Department lawyers sent a note to Weinstein last month, saying that if the case were not thrown out, the "implications of plaintiffs' claims are astounding as they would (if accepted) openthe courthouse doors of the American legal system for former enemy nationals and soldiers claiming to have been harmed by the US Armed Forces" during wars.

    US forces sprayed Agent Orange to clear jungles and destroy crops during the 1954-1975 Vietnam war. More than 80 million liters of the defoliant were used.

    Some 10,000 US veterans receive medical disability benefits related to Agent Orange, which scientists blamed for cancer, diabetes, birth defects and other problems among the veterans and Vietnamese civilians.

    In 1984, seven US chemical companies paid 180 million dollars to keep a veterans' class action suit out of court.

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