Laos Seeks Deal With Hanoi

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32213, 4 February 1970, Page 10

Laos Seeks Deal With Hanoi

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

VIENTIANE, February 1.

Prince Souvanna Phouma, the Laotian Prime Minister, said in Vientiane yesterday that he was prepared to "close his eyes” to the existence of the Ho Chi Minh trail in eastern Laos if North Vietnam withdrew its 50,000 troops from the rest of Laos, the New York Times News Service reported.

He would then call for a halt in the air attacks against Communist-held regions elsewhere in Laos the Prime Minister said.

While the Prime Minister did not explicitly say so, he left no doubt during an interview at his residence that he meant not only raids by the small Royal Laotian Air Force of converted- T2B singleengine trainers but also the extensive attacks by American bombers and fighterbombers against the Pathet Lao and their North Vietnamese allies.

The Pathet Lao and their allies have been battling Government troops since a coalition government collapsed in 1963. it is an open secret that the United States Air Force and Navy fly several hundred sorties daily over Laos, but the United States acknowledges only that American planes fly “armed reconnaissance” missions at the request of the Laotian government and have the right to return fire if attacked. The Prime Minister said that he made his proposal last spring when the North Vietnamese Ambassador, Mr Le Van Hein, who normally remains in Hanoi, came to Vientiane for several weeks and called on Prince Souvanna Phouma.

“I even said, ‘Do what you wish on the Ho Chi Minh trail, we’ll close our eyes. That is between you and the Americans'.”

The Prime Minister said that the trail, along which North Vietnam moves troops and supplies to South Vietnam to aid the Viet Cong in their battle with South Vietnamese and United States troops, is in a remote, mountainous region. He continued: "It is completely beyond our control. We don’t even know what happens there.” The Prime Minister said that his offer was still good, as was his offer to go to Hanoi to discuss it with the leaders of North Vietnam.