S.E.A.T.0. TO MEET OVER NEW CRISIS IN LAOS

Press, Volume C, Issue 29402, 3 January 1961, Page 9

S.E.A.T.0. TO MEET OVER NEW CRISIS IN LAOS

U.S. Alerts Forces In Pacific (N.Z. Press Association'—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) BANGKOK, January 2. The council of the South - east Asia Treaty Organisation is to meet today at the request of the United States to discuss a new crisis in Laos. In Washington, President Eisenhower has called on defence chiefs to be ready to move United States forces in the Pacific area to aid Laos if necessary. These steps have been taken as the result of an announcement on Saturday by the new Laotian Government of Prince Boun Oum that seven North Vietnamese battalions have crossed the border into north-east Laos.

The Laotian Government has warned that it would ask friendly nations for immediate assistance if the enemy did not stop “flagrant aggression,” but a S.E.A.T.O. spokesman said so far no appeal for assistance had been received.

Washington sources said there were no indications that the United States was prepared to undertake immediate military steps to meet the invasion threat in Laos, but the situation, described officially yesterday as “grave,” was regarded today as steadily worsening. Units of the United States Seventh Fleet, including the aircraft carrier Lexington, were reported to be sailing in the South China Sea ready for any eventuality. A battalion landing team of United States marines, which a Defence Department spokesman estimated at from 900 to 1000 men. were with the Seventh Fleet units. Warning to China President Eisenhower yesterday warned Communist China and North Vietnam against intervening in the civil war in Laos. The warning to the Communists contained in the stronglyworded statement issued last night after a White House conference between President Eisenhower and diplomatic, defence and intelligence officials, was regarded as sufficiently broad to include the Soviet Union as well as Communist China and North Vietnam. It was obviously the hope of the United States Government that the warning would be sufficient to convince the Communists that the United States would be ready to act if outside forces intervened on the side of the pro-Communist Pathet Lao

against the pro-Western Government of Prince Boun Oum.

Britain, France and other interested countries are being kept fully informed of American assessments and moves of the latest developments in Laos. The President-elect, Mr John Kennedy, is also being kept informed through his Secretary of Statedesignate, Mr Dean Rusk. Invaders “Non-Laotian” The State Department was most careful not to identify publicly where the reported Communist invaders came from, describing them simply as “non-Laotian.” The official spokesman said that he could not describe the nationality, the numbers or the intentions of the forces, but said they were certainly “more than a handful.” The lack of precise information about the alleged invaders was seen as making difficulties for a joint assessment of the Laotian situation by the South-east Asia Treaty Organisation, of which New Zealand and Australia are members.

Diplomats in Washington said they thought the United States might have trouble in convincing the other S.E.A.T.O. members that there was in fact a large-scale Communist aggression. They said that it was a particularly difficult thing to prove. The diplomats added that almost certainly there would have to be an observer team from S.E.A.T.O. sent to have a flrst-

hand look before the organisation could commit itself. Under the S.E.A.T.O. Treaty provisions, the Laotian Government would have to appeal to the organisation before S.E.A.T.O. could take any formal action. A State Department spokesman said the United States plans to present at the S.E.A.T.O. meeting its serious view of the new developments in Laos. Provisions of Paet According to the S.E.A.T.O. pact, drawn up in 1954, after the Indo-China war, each S.E.A.T.O. member recognises that an armed attack in the treaty area “would endanger its own peace and safety, and agrees that it will in that event act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes.” S.E.A.T.O.’s defence area takes in the Indo-Chinese States, including Laos. The pact provides that any time there is “any fact or situation which might endanger the peace of the area, the parties shall consult immediately in order to agree on the measures which should be taken for the common defence.”