DE GAULLE SPEAKS ON VIETNAM

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31154, 2 September 1966, Page 11

DE GAULLE SPEAKS ON VIETNAM

‘U.S. Withdrawal Must Precede Peace’

<S.Z. Press Association —Copyright

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 1. President de Gaulle said today that the United States must agree to withdraw its forces from Vietnam before a negotiated settlement of the war is possible. The President’s call came in a major speech before 60,000 people in a city stadium.

It followed his meeting yesterday with the North Vietnamese representative in Cambodia, Nguyen Truong.

A F rench spokesman said the meeting was the most important President de Gaulle had held on Vietnam. But the French sources said President de Gaulle remained pessimistic about peace prospects in Vietnam. President de Gaulie today called for the United States withdrawal from Vietnam ••within a reasonable time.” He said: “All solutions depend on the attitude of the United States to the idea of withdrawing its troops with a reasonable delay. "We fully realise this might! not be possible in the immedi-j ate future.” Two Centuries Then he said: “In the name of two centuries of friend-i ship. France appeals to the! United States to make this! gesture.” No military solution was | possible in Vietnam. Only a| political solution could bring! peace, he said.

“There is no chance that the people of Asia will submit to the law of foreigners across the Pacific," he said. Five Powers President de Gaulle said an agreement must be reached to guarantee Indo-China's neutrality and self-determina-tion. It must be signed by the ■ “five major Powers” of the ; world. i He spoke in 90-degree heat under a golden canopy with a red and blue border. • The crowd cheered re- ■ peatedly when he praised i Cambodia for its neutrality tn the Vietnam conflict. t No Meeting The United States has repeatedly charged that Cambodia is used as a sanctuary ■ by Viet Cong and North Viet- ■ inamese troops chased across i the frontier from South Viet- > nam. I A French spokesman yessi terday ruled out any meetiring between President de > Gaulle and President Johnson during the former’s stop in

'Guadeloupe on his way home. The White House had indicated that President Johnson would agree to such a meeting if President de Gaulle requested one. French officials called the speech one of the most significant in President de Gaulle’s career. But they said the manner in which he delivered the ;appeal and its warning, api peared to indicate he saw | little hope it would be heeded.