HANOI Vietnam's Army and security forces, which have long had huge political influence here, are paying the price for the ferocious factional feuding that accompanied the ouster of Conservative Party supremo Le Kha Phieu, analysts and diplomats say, AFP reported.

Not only has the lifelong army man Phieu been ousted from Vietnam's top post, but the armed forces have suffered a severe reduction in representation in the key institutions of power.

The military now has just 15 seats on the party's 150-member Central Committee, two less than just a week ago, and only one of its membership now sits on the elite 15-member politburo after the weekend meeting, compared with two before.

Worse the army's top commanders have come out of the prolonged leadership battle severely wounded by disciplinary action administered during the long battle to oust Phieu.

Both Defense Minister Phan van Tra and Army Chief of Staff Le van Dung -- two key supporters of the ousted party chief -- were reprimanded by the party's Central Committee last month during the battle to evict their patron.

Tra insisted Saturday that his reprimand had nothing to do with the feuding over the leadership, saying it was solely to do with a major security lapse during then president Bill Clinton's historic visit here last November.

Vietnamese-American dissident Ly Tong managed to shower antigovernment leaflets over the commercial capital of Ho Chi Minh City on the eve of Clinton's arrival there after hijacking a plane from Thailand.

But Tra's comments flew in the face of the pronouncements of the Central Committee itself.

Its spokesman, party Ideology Chief Huu Tho, explicitly denied that the disciplining was the result of the leaflet-dropping stunt, insisting it was for general "management shortcomings."

And a string of top officials told AFP privately that the two defense chiefs were paying the price for their mentor with the unprecedented pair of reprimands.

"The army and security services put all their weight into the war of succession in the last few months between conservative and reformist forces at the top of Vietnam's communist leadership," said a diplomat in the capital.

"Until the very end the military-backed General Le Kha Phieu, the departing secretary general and head of the conservative faction, ousted by the Central Committee, and they paid the price," he said.

Many high-ranking leaders have accused Phieu of repeatedly abusing a much-enlarged military intelligence service in his battle to stay in power.

One of the country's elder statesmen, former prime minister Vo van Kiet, confirmed Saturday there had been public complaints over the black operations and that politburo members were warned against their use for partisan goals.

"There was a general reminder to the politburo that they should not use this instrument for personal purposes after some allegations made by people and the public," said Kiet, who is one of three powerful behind-the-scenes advisers to the party, who stood down at the weekend's Congress.

The elder statesman offered no denial that the ousted party chief had resorted to abuse of surveillance and intelligence files.

"Normally in the tradition of the Communist Party here, the general secretary has the right to use party and state organizations to monitor the domestic and foreign situation," he said.

"The important thing is to use that apparatus to cope with the internal situation.

"It is unacceptable for anyone, and I mean anyone at all, to use this instrument for personal purposes. It's something that should be roundly criticized because it is forbidden," according to AFP.