TROOPS IN VIETNAM Withdrawal May Start Next Year

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31781, 11 September 1968, Page 18

TROOPS IN VIETNAM Withdrawal May Start Next Year

Members of a South Vietnamese good-will mission which arrived in Auckland today indicated that allied troops might start leaving their country either next year or in 1970.

The leader of the five-man mission, Senator Nguyen Van Ngai, a member of the revolutionary Dai Viet Party, said that people

should be “a little realistic” when talking about the possible withdrawal of United States troops.

Senator Ngai, a prominent Nationalist who has been imprisoned by the French, the Communists and the Diem regime, said that South Vietnam had been at war for more than 20 years. “Because of this we requested the assistance of the allied countries but we have made the necessary efforts so that we may soon bear our own burden. “According to a statement by our President a few months ago, the United States may withdraw part of these troops next year, but the withdrawal should be carried out gradually,” said Senator Ngai.

The South Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia (Tran Kim Phuong), another member of the mission, said the request to the allies for help did not mean that the Vietnamese would ask them to stay indefinitely. “There will be a time I when the troops will withdraw,” he said. The whole!

question is when to phase the withdrawal. It must be done slowly and little by little so that our own troops will have enough time to take over. This has been made clear many times by our president,” he said. He said the withdrawal of troops could start by 1970 because by then the South Vietnamese forces would have reached 1,000,000 and would be able to take over. Senator Ngai said he believed there would be no change of the basic policy of the United States towards Vietnam whether Mr Nixon or Mr Humphrey was elected. He said he thought the Paris peace talks would drag on because the strategy of the Communists was to "talk and fight.” “We don't have any illusions as to the reasons for the Paris talks. So far the Communists in the north have lagged completely in finding a workable peace,” he said. He said the National Liberation Front could not be considered as a political entity. “If those working for the N.L.F. stop murdering the civilian population, renounce their reasons and honour the laws of the land they can participate in our constitution." he said. “We realise the Communists are still able to infiltrate into Saigon in groups up to 20 to create havoc. They still

have potential to set rockets or shell Saigon by mortar but a ground attack by a big unit is a different matter by far,” he said.

Senator Ngai would not be drawn on the subject of an increased New Zealand commitment in Vietnam. “We leave it completely to your Government to decide,” he said.

Did he see any possibility of the war ending in the next five years? “I think that with the present action and increased effort the situation in South Vietnam can improve rapidly,” he said. Senator Ngai said the purpose of the mission was to convey the deepest thanks of the Vietnamese people for New Zealand’s concrete help in their struggle.