New video of McCain in Vietnam

SVT, a Swedish broadcaster, posted on its website today this short video clip of what it says is John McCain being released to the U.S. military in Hanoi in 1973, after five and a half years as a prisoner-of-war. Aside from grainy footage of McCain in a Vietnamese hospital after being shot down -- which McCain uses in his campaign ads -- video from this period of his life is scarce.

Here's an Associated Press account of the new clip:

A former SVT reporter, Erik Eriksson, said he found the video in the network's archives when he was looking for footage for a book he was writing about his experiences as a war correspondent in Vietnam.

SVT posted the edited 39-second clip on its Web site on Thursday. It shows McCain stepping off a bus with other prisoners. He has a pronounced limp but is not using crutches.

It then shows McCain standing in a lineup when his name is called. He walks up to salute and shake hands with U.S. military officers. The last part of the clip shows a U.S. Air Force jet taxiing on a runway.

Eriksson said the footage was filmed in Hanoi on March 14, 1973, by a Vietnamese photographer whom he had contracted to film the release of U.S. prisoners.

"I don't know if there is another film from his release. I haven't seen all the films in the world, but as far as I know there are no others," Eriksson told The Associated Press.