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HAIPHONG, Vietnam — John McCain has an unusual endorsement — from the Vietnamese jailer who says he held him captive for about five years as a POW and now considers him a friend.

"If I were an American voter, I would vote for Mr. John McCain," Tran Trong Duyet said Friday, sitting in his living room about 60 miles east of Hanoi in Haiphong, surrounded by black-and-white photos of a much younger version of himself and former Vietnam War prisoners.

At the same time, he denies POWs at the Hoa Lo Prison (infamously known as the "Hanoi Hilton") were tortured. Despite detailed POW accounts and physical wounds, Duyet claims the presumptive Republican presidential nominee made up beatings and solitary confinement in an attempt to win votes.

His statements seem to echo the communist leadership's overall line on America: It insists the torture claims are fabricated, but that Vietnam now considers the United States a friend and wants to lay the past to rest. Duyet said one of the reasons he likes McCain for president is the candidate's willingness to forgive and look to the future.

Duyet, 75, grew testy during the interview when repeatedly questioned about torture and why so many other former POWs say they, too, were mistreated. He preferred to talk about McCain as an old buddy.

His photo collection doesn't include one of him with POW McCain, and he said they have not met on any of McCain's postwar visits to Vietnam. But Duyet said he often met the young Navy pilot when off duty, that McCain would correct his English, and that he had a great sense of humor. And although they never saw eye-to-eye on the war, he said they listened to each other's viewpoints.

"He's tough, has extreme political views and is very conservative," Duyet said.

Asked for a response, the McCain campaign referred The Associated Press to Orson Swindle, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel who was imprisoned with McCain.

Swindle said Duyet "has no credibility on every utterance he makes."