U.S. Negotiation With Viet Cong Reported

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31279, 27 January 1967, Page 12

U.S. Negotiation With Viet Cong Reported

(N.Z. Press Association —Copyright)

WASHINGTON, January 26.

The United States has discreetly made several informal but direct contacts with political representatives of the Viet Cong, diplomatic sources quoted by the “New York limes News Service said yesterday.

The United Arab Republic, where the Viet Cong main-;' tains one of its largest and! most important political ■ offices outside the Communist world, is reported to be; the site of repeated contacts/ Informed sources indi- j rated that there may have; been contacts in other capi-j talc ac wpll Last October, the Viet Cong

, I increased the personnel of its . political office in Cairo from Hone to eight, apparently to handle contacts with Ameri!can officials there. i The political standing of the Cairo office was advanced I by sending a member of the I National Liberation Front Committee, Mr Le I Guang Chanh, to head it The U.S, has kept the con-

’tacts secret, but privately i some American officials now I acknowledge that such face- ; to-face discussions have oc- ; curred, the news service said, i They explain that Washington has deliberately not publicised them to avoid embarrassing the Saigon regime, which is on record as opposing political contacts with the National Liberation Front. Informed sources report that the discussions so far have failed to produce tangible progress or agreement on any significant issue in the Vietnamese conflict. The discussions are believed to have been concerned, in part at least, with prisoners of war. It was not disclosed whether the contacts, which reportedly date back at least until mid-1966, have been renewed during the flurry of speculation about peace moves that has cropped up during the last month. Washington’s stated policy is to treat the Viet Cong as a junior partner of the North Vietnamese Communist regime. The U.S. has also shown reluctance to agree to include the Viet Cong specifically as a party to any peace negotiations.