Spell in Paris talks; report to Nixon

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33096, 11 December 1972, Page 17

Spell in Paris talks; report to Nixon

BARIS. December 10. The United States envoy. Dr Henry Kissinger, and the Hanoi emissary. Mr I e Due Tho. today took a 24-hour break j from their secret peace talks in Paris while the \merican s ■ deputy . Major-! General Alexander I laig. returned to \\ ashington , for consultations with President Nixon.

But the two sides will not he idle, for both North Vietnamese and !; American technical ex- | peris were meeting to j discuss the draft texts [of a possible cease-fire agreement, informed i [sources said. Dr Kissinger and Mr Tho.: who had 23 hours of hard j bargaining last week, will [meet again tomorrow at a J venue now familiar to both I of them—the house of a Paris jeweller. Mr Arnaud Clerc. The surprise announcement that General Haig was re- . turning home—he left late last night—to brief the President came only hours after Dr Kissinger and Mr Tho had had a three-hour and a half meeting. Sources said that the crucial discussions now hinge on three major issues — North ! Vietnamese troops pulling out from the South, the fate of .Viet Cong political prisoners held by Saigon and the political set-up in Vietnam before an election. ISSUE OF TROOPS The leader of the Viet Cong, delegation to the Paris talks., i Madame Nguyen Thi Binh,; has said in an interview that j ;i soldiers from the North un-l ,;der the Provisional Revolu-[ . tionary Government's flag! [have the right to return home [when demobbed. ;; This was taken as a roundabout way of solving the thorny question of North I Vietnamese troops in South , Vietnam. The South Vietnamese Pre- { sident (Mr Thieu) says [ there are 300,000 North Viet’[namese troops in his coun’|try; American estimates say about 145,000, and Hanoi says! . that there are none at all. !’ The most likely solution [ suggested may be that North Vietnamese troops will be! withdrawn on a man-for-man [ I basis as Mr Thieu begins de-: [mobilising some of his mil-; Hion-strong army. WARNING TO DIG ! But official broadcasts from; [ both Hanoi and Saigon seem to indicate that peace is some way off. Hanoi Radio has warned [the population of North Viet-1 inam to build bunkers and [take precautions against ex-, i pected intensified American [ ! bombing, says a Saigon re-! ; port. [ And Saigon Radio last. [ night charged North Vietnam [ with deploying troops in [ South Vietnam into local I guerrilla units, to circumvent [ [South Vietnam’s demand for; [a complete pull-out. ; The broadcast affirmed that I I South Vietnam would not [ sign a cease-fire unless all North Vietnamese troopsl were withdrawn. A Viet Cong broadcast has stressed a need for “rapid construction and development of the revolutionary armed and political forces in the face of a situation that! is changing rapidly.” The aim of this development, it said, was to force

|ithe United States to sign a I peace agreement and to build ■ • “a strong revolutionary ad--1 ministration” for post-war • times. > HEAVY BOMBING . American 852 bombers. > for the fourth day. pounded I the Demilitarised Zone today. The United States command ordered the more in•'tense bombing raids to try * to choke off North Vietna- * tnese troops and equipment ‘ from moving into the South. ’ The raids prompted a RaLdio Hanoi broadcast to say that American air raids had '’“dimmed the prospects for ’ peace in Vietnam.” ; [ After air strikes in the area •|on Friday and early yesterriday in which more than 100 ‘ sorties (one mission by one '[plane) were flown. the American air raids continued' ■yesterday afternoon and ; ‘! early today. At least 25 852 ’ missions, each with an avert age three planes and 90 tons • of bombs, were flown. L Since Wednesday the •'Bs2s, from Guam and Thai•;land, have dropped more’

than 5000 tons of bomb* near the D.M.Z. The Saigon Command reported scattered heavy tight ing in the northern part ol South Vietnam yesterday. |but the number of "enemy initiated incidents" fell to 58 from the 83 reported on Friday. Friday's fighting was the heaviest in a month. PACT WITH RUSSIA The Soviet Union will con tinue to help North Vietnam “in the strengthening of its defensive potential” and the “development of its national economy.” Tass reported in Moscow yesterday. An agreement this effect has just been signed tn Mos [cow. together with a trade protocol for the coming year [ The “free aid" to North [Vietnam will include large iquantities of goods and 'equipment in addition to de fence help. An accord was also signed providing for the creation of a Soviet North Vietnamese intergovernmental commis sion for economic and techni cal co-operation