Ky Reported Losing Army Support

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31030, 9 April 1966, Page 15

Ky Reported Losing Army Support

f.V.Z. Press Association—Copyright) DA NANG, April 8. The senior officers of the South Vietnamese Army’s First Corps in Da Nang were reported today to be withdrawing their loyalty from the Saigon Government.

T w o Vietnamese Air Force Skyraiders ran through a series of low-level passes over the headquarters compound, apparently in a show of force by

airmen loyal to the Prime Minister, General Ky.

The Skyraiders “buzzed” the office of General Nguyen Van Chuan, commander of the First Corps, which encompasses the five northern provinces of South Vietnam. The area has been the scene of hostile anti-Government demonstrations in the last few weeks. There was immediate fear that a civil war could break out between troops loyal to General Chuan and those supporting General Ky. Troops swung the gate to the headquarters compound shut, and a captain guarding it said: “The pilots are trying to get us to fire. I want very much to shoot, but we will not shoot unless they shoot first.”

The fighters belong to the Vietnamese Air Force, which is commanded by General Ky, but it was not known definitely if the pilots were acting on his direct orders. • U.S. INTERVENTION The two planes stopped the

buzzing wtien a United States helicopter took to the air and settled into a circular orbit over the compound, directly in the path of the Skyraiders. There was no official explanation for the United States move, but observers believe it was intended to prevent a shooting incident When the planes buzzed the two-storey red brick headquarters building, General Chuan was conferring with Lieutentant-General Nguyen Huu Co, the Deputy Prime Minister, who has been in Da Nang trying to work out a solution to the tense and Ungled political situation. The two men left the area an hour after the planes had menaced the headquarters building, but their destination was not stated. A party delegation of senior officers from the First Corps distributed a proclamation stating the First Corps had lost confidence in General Ky’s Government and said the Prime Minister was not interested in the welfare of the people.

At the same time, the proclamation stated that the First Corps officers had a continuing friendship with the Americans. The proclamation was signed by most senior officers of the command, except by General Chuan himself.

He was reported still wondering whether to support action that amounted to a virtual revolt against General Ky’s leadership. The 4000 Vietnamese Marines flown to Da Nang to deal with the crisis were still at Da Nang air base. They had not moved by noon today.