Rioting In S. Vietnam Adopted By Buddhists

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30530, 27 August 1964, Page 13

Rioting In S. Vietnam Adopted By Buddhists

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) DA NANG (South Vietnam), August 26. Ten thousand Buddhist rioters stormed past a battalion of South Vietnamese troops today and burned a Roman Catholic village within sight of a United States Army billet.

The attack, against Bo Thanh village, followed Buddhist-Cath-olic fighting yesterday in which authorities said 19 persons were killed and 70 wounded.

The Roman Catholic residents of Bo Thanh, all refugees from North Vietnam, fled their buring homes and escaped to the sea in boats. Vietnamese soldiers formed a cordon around the village, but their defences collapsed under the charge of the rioters Student leaders in Da Nang had blamed “trigger-happy" Americans for setting off the outbreaks of violence by firing warning shots during the violence. No Americans were injured in the fighting, however. An American military spokesman said the Government had moved in troops and armoured units to restore order. The military revolution committee was deadlocked today in its efforts to select a successor to Major-General Nguyen Khanh, who resigned yesterday as South Vietnam’s President after six days of student and Buddhist revolts. The Khanh Government, which had been backed by

the United States, collapsed' early yesterday when Khanh agreed to abolish the new constitution under which he assumed sweeping emergency powers. A vast power struggle developed in the Government with Khanh’s resignation and the dissolution of the 62-man ruling committee. As its final act the committee was to select a new chief of State but could not agree on a new man.

Unconfirmed reports said the leading contenders for the job were Khanh himself, Major-General Doung Van Minh, whom Khanh replaced as chief of State, and General Tran Thien Kheim, Khanh’s Defence Minister. Khanh, who .had seized power in a coup d'etat on January 30, had been Premier before he ascended to the Presidency 11 days ago. His resignation left him with no official position in the Government, although he still controlled the Army. BRIDGE BOMBED A bridge near the American Embassy was bombed early today. There was no immediate word of casualties or damage. The blast, presumably set off by Viet Cong forces, occurred a few blocks from Saigon’s plush Hotel Caravelle, which was bombed less than 24 hours earlier.