OPPOSING VIET TROOPS READY AT DA NANG

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31028, 6 April 1966, Page 17

OPPOSING VIET TROOPS READY AT DA NANG

CN.Z. Press Association —Copyright) DA NANG, April 5. Loyalist Marines and mutinous local army units faced each other only 400 y ards apart on the outskirts of Da Nang today 7.

At the same time the South Vietnamese premier, General Nguyen Cao Ky, was holding a last-minute conference with the commander of the locally-based First Corps, Major-General Nguyen Van Chaun, the Associated Press reported.

Mayor-General Chaun. who ordered the 11th Ranger Battalion into Da Nang earlier today with the mission of “protecting the city.” has apparently given his support the city’s Mayor. Mr Nguyen Van Man, the A.P. said. General Ky has vowed that either the Mayor is shot or the South Vietnamese Government will fall. 1000 Troops More than 1000 loyalist paratroopers poured into the United States air base at Da Nang this morning. General Ky was to hold talks with dissident Buddhist and military leaders. If the talks failed, the Premier was reported to be prepared to lead the Government troops personally in an assault against the local units waiting behind barbed wire barricades and roadblocks. Sources in Da Nang said five Skyraiders from the Premier’s former squadron were standing by to provide cover for the Marines when they moved into the city. Thousands of leaflets bearing a message from General Ky were to be dropped on the city warning that troops had been sent to restore order. AAP-Reuter reported.

The Prime Minister was accompanied on his flight to Da Nang this morning by the Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, LieutenantGeneral Nguyen Huu Co. The first shots were fired at mid-morning, but not between the opposing forces. About 50 soldiers raided the local headquarters of the Vietnamese Nationalist Party and arrested 18 people suspected of being “pro-Government.” One soldier fired two shots at the balcony of the building. ITlii In Command Reliable sources quoted by United Press International said Lieutenant-General Nguyen Chanh Thi, whose dismissal on March 10 ignited the civil unrest that has swept South Vietnam, would command the defenders. Although General Thi is no longer commander of the i South Vietnamese troops in i the Da Nang area, he still (commands the loyalty of most |of the Government soldiers in the region, the sources said. Inside the city itself Mayor Man was reported to have set up a command post in the Pho Da pagoda. Strong guards manned roadblocks round it, AAPReuter said. Da Nang Radio called on the people to resist to the last breath.

Red Scarves Loud-speaker vans toured the streets advising people to stay at home, saying they would be protected by two regiments of troops. In some districts, defiant citizens sat outside beating on upturned oil drums. Troops in the city were

wearing red scarves, apparently to distinguish them from the loyalist soldiers at the air base.

Unidentified troops hustled away two students who began shouting through a megaphone outside the air base gates that a “foreign army” had landed there. Americans at the Da Nang air base were on “Red Alert” with orders to stay clear of any Vietnamese show-down fight. The “Red Alert,” which under war conditions means attack is imminent, required i all military staff to stay where they were. Meanwhile, four companies of pro-Government troops imposed martial law on Nha Trang, another centre of dissension about 200 miles north-east of Saigon. The troops stormed the Government Information Office which also houses the U.S. Information Service, threw smoke bombs and tear gas grenades, and evicted about 80 anti-Government students who had occupied the building for the last 24 hours. Saigon Curfew In Saigon, also torn by severe anti-Government rioting, a curfew was imposed on all Vietnamese beginning tonight and extending indefinitely. The curfew, which extends from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. also covers the surrounding Gia Dinh province. In a broadcast speech late last night, the Head of State, Lieutenant-General Nguyen Van Thieu, announced the closure of all schools until further notice. He recalled that a state of

emergency decree passed last year was still in force, A.A.P.Reuter reported. General Thieu warned the nation against the danger Of Communist infiltration among the demonstrators. Street Fighting Vietnamese also reported street fighting last night in Tam Ky, a town about 40 miles south cf Da Nang, where there has been a strike. The demonstrators in Tam Ky were reported to have seized a soldier who would not support the strikers. Other Army men arrived and began beating the demonstrators, some of whom were arrested. 600 Protest In Hue, the other major northern trouble spot, more than 600 students demonstrated outside the main billet for American military advisers today. The students were protesting against the closing of the main coastal highway by barricades erected around the billet. National police removed the barricades and the students walked past the billet and then dispersed.