HANOI, July 5 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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VIETNAM NEWS

-- Financial liberalisation in Vietnam needs to be progressive and prudent steps should be taken gradually to loosen controls on capital transactions, Truong Van Phuoc, head of the State Bank of Vietnam's Central Bank Department, wrote in an article.

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HANOI MOI

-- Tests of samples from 197 people connected to five Vietnamese infected by bird flu this year showed none carried the virus, doctors said.

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SAIGON GIAI PHONG

-- More than 7,100 people died in more than 7,900 traffic accidents in Vietnam in the first half of this year, a 9.9 percent rise from the same period last year, police said.

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TUOI TRE

-- The Vietnam Communist Party's Central Committee is scheduled to begin a plenum on Thursday to discuss reforms of its leadership.

-- The World Bank has approved a 40-year credit worth $155 million to help expand Hanoi urban transport by developing roads for buses.

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THANH NIEN

-- Vietnam Airlines said it would start selling e-tickets for several domestic and international routes as from July 16.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- A consortium of China's Dongfang Electrical Machinery Co. <1072.HK> and Japan's Marubeni Corp. <8002.T> started construction of a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the northern port city of Haiphong. The $629-million plant with two generators would be operational in March 2010.

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