U. S. Role In Laos Causes Concern

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32234, 28 February 1970, Page 11

U. S. Role In Laos Causes Concern

(Ji.Z.P A.-Reuter —Copyright)

WASHINGTON, February 27.

The United States Secretary of Defence (Mr Melvin Laird) has admitted that American aircraft have been bombing in Laos, where Royal Laotian Government forces were yesterday reported to be regrouping against possible new North Vietnamese thrusts.

But Mr Laird stated flatly that no United States ground forces were in action in Laos, and he said that the bombing attacks were mounted only to protect American forces in South Vietnam.

Mr Laird stopped short, however, of denying reports that America’s giant Stratofortress bombers had been used to support the Government troops during the Communist offensive which last week overran the strategic Plain of Jars. The latest reports from Laos say there is no reason why the North Vietnamese troops, who captured the important airfield and town of Muong Soui on Tuesday, should not push on with their offensive. In their 10-day campaign the North Vietnamese have gained complete control of the entire Plain of Jars, and they now pose a threat to the towns of Sam Thong and Long Cheng, about 100 miles north of the administrative capital, Vientiane.

bright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—who has never masked his opposition to the Vietnam war or his concern for United States commitments in South-East Asiasaid that the present situation in Laos was extremely dangerous, and that it was more imperative than ever for the Government to divulge the extent of the United States role there. He later told reporters that the developments over the past few days represented a major escalation of the war, and ran contrary to public belief that the United States was lowering the scale of the conflict in South-East Asia. 193 Missing The Defence Department, in one of its rare public acknowledgments of United States involvement in Laos, meanwhile reported that 193 American airmen had been listed as missing or captured ' there since 1961. Only two of the 193 were known to be prisoners of war, the department said. Laotian Appeal In Vientiane yesterday, the ' Laotian Prime Minister | (Prince Souvanna Phouma) i called on the 14 signatories of 1 the Geneva Agreement on

Laos to meet again in a renewed attempt to end the fighting in his country. He said that his Government was going to send a protest letter to Britain and the Soviet Union, the co-chairmen of the 1962 Geneva conference, telling them of the large-scale North Vietnamese offensive. “We cannot very well allow ourselves to be cr'shed,” Prince Souvanna said. About the same time as Prince Souvanna’s appeal, the North Vietnamese Foreign Ministry issued a statement, accusing the United States of escalating the war in Laos, and condemning “the massive bombing of areas controlled by Lao patriotic forces.” The statement said that North Vietnam fully supported the right of Pathet Lao troops to fight against United States forces and their supporters. It alleged that Stratofortress bombers had carried out several raids over the Xieng Khouang-Plain of Jars area since February 17. The Hanoi statement came after an accusation last Monday by the North Vietnamese Minister of Defence (General Vo Nguyan Giap) that the United States and its supporters were severely threatening his country’s security through their “war of aggression" in Laos.