DEVELOPMENTS IN INDOCHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00875R001100010001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 28, 2006
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 26, 1973
• Content Type: SUMMARY

 Approved For Release 2007/02/0 : CIA-RDP85T00875R001100 Y0001-4
6PS 5,gio op Secret
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGIiNCL
--n
Developments in Indochina
State Dept. review completed
DIA review(s) completed.
Top Secret
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26 February 1973
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DEVELOPMENTS IN INDOCHINA
(Information ac of 1500)
The cease-fire is settling in
with only minor incidents reported.
Insurgents continue to harass
Routes 2 and 3. Additional infor-
mation about the doctor serving as
intermediary between First Minister
Ilak and the insurgent "ghosts" sug-
gests that the contact should be
treated with caution.
The fighting is very light.
Bao Dai supporters in the Saigon
area are getting organized. Com-
munist troops are engaged in
reconstruction efforts.
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26 February 1973
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LAOS
Pak Deng NSI, / T 1 Luang Bounm
-A S(FN~;,- /al`+rabang Long
Solo Phbu Khouni,-
Muong
Sou PIMne
do
o
(
BafNO
Xleng r
Khouangvill
f
Long Tien DO
Khong.,1,1.11 Sarovone
~Sedone'
Thateng
Lao Nero
Paks
,aksong
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The cease-fire appears to be settling in with only
minor incidents reported in the past 48 hours. In the
south, government patrols over the weekend clashed
with small enemy units near Thateng and Khong Sedone,
and Communist gunners harassed government positions
just west of Paksong. Farther north, a I,ao Army force
attacked and dispersed on 23 February was again at-
tacked on 25 February as it regrouped along Route 13
some 25 miles north of Thakhek. Lao aircraft continue
to fly tactical missions in support of government units
throughout the south.
East of the Plaine des Jarres, Communist gunners
are still shelling irregular positions in the hills
south of Xieng Khouangville. South of the Plaine, there
have been no significant violations and Vang Pao's
troops in that area have been meeting with North Viet-
namese units to arrange informal ciase-fire guidelines.
No air strikes were carried out in this sector on 25
February. 25X1
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Phasoul< Ponders Political Problems
General Phasouk, the Lao Army chief of staff who
is an influential figure in southern political affairs,
recently presented a somber appraisal of the government's
problems in competing politically with the Lao Communists.
Phasouk sees the Lao Army as the only force ca-
pable of organizing the government side, and he has
already ordered political action teams in southern
Laos to take to the field immediately to work among
the villagers.
Phasouk's fears appear to be based on the non-
Communist performance in the legislative elections held
in Laos during 1957--the only elections since inde-
pendence in which the Communists freely participated.
The Communists and an allied party garnered only 32
percent of the vote, but won 13 of the 21 seats because
the non-Communist vote was split between 85 candidates.
The Lao cease-fire agreement of 1973 provides that the
procedures and timing for a new National Assembly elec-
tion will be agreed upon by both sides. Such negotia- 25X1
tions will almost certainly see the Communists demand
guarantees barring articipation by the Lao Army
in the elections.
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Military activity continues to center on Routes
2 and 3 where Khmer insurgents continue to harass
small government positions. A two-battalion govern-
ment force that had been advancing slowly down Route
3 has been stalled by insurgent resistance about 20
miles south of Phnom Penh. On Route 2, insurgent
attacks forced Cambodian troops to abandon three
outposts near the South Vietnam border on 25 Feb-
ruary. Meanwhile, the government is still organizing
an operation to clear sections of Route 2 between
Phnom Penh and the town of Takeo.
Demonstrations in Phnom Penh
The US Defense Attache reports that two demon-
strations occurred in the capital on 26 February. One
involved a handful of soldiers who entered the Mili-
tary Bank seeking back pay. the other incident in-
volved another small group of soldiers that tried
unsuccessfully to prevent military police from break-
ing up a student demonstration over high prices. Order
was quickly restored in both cases, but the city's
central market was closed temporarily to het avert
further incidents.
A Questionable Intermediary
Dr. Mok-Lean, the intermediary First Minister
Hang Thun Hak has reportedly been using to contact
Khmer insurgent "interior minister" Hou Yuon, has
told a US Embassy officer he had known Hou Yuon be-
fore he disappeared from Phnom Penh in 1967. The
doctor also claimed he knew insurgent "defense min-
ister" Khieu Samphan as well, but that he only knew
"information minister" Hu Nim on sight.
Hak apparently chose Mok-Lean as his inter-
mediary primarily because of his acquaintance with
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the insurgent leaders. A).though the doctor's po-
litical predilections are rather murky, he evidently
dislikes Lon Nol and Lon Non and does not want a
Communist ~vstem of aovernment in Cambodia
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r'OUTH VIETNAM MILITARY SITUATION
Fighting throughout the country was the lightest
since the cease-fire was announced. Fewer incidents
were reported and most were of minor importance.
South Vietnamese units apparently control Route
14 from Pleiku to Ban Me Thuot aiLd are repairing some
bridges on the highway to assure through traffic for
the next two days. Communist units continue to
harass convoys from Pleiku to Kontum City, but most
trucks are getting through.
Bao Dai for Third Force?
A group of opposition figures living in the
Saigon area is reportedly trying to promote former
emperor Bao Dai as a member of a "th.Lrd force" ele-
ment on the National Council for Reconciliation and
Concord. a small
group of students, civil. servants, an ormer officials
in Bao Dai's government are behind the effort, and hope
to generate sufficient support to enable the former
emperor to return to Saigon in the near future. They
claim Bao Dai is the only neutralist with both national
and international stature.
Since Bao Dai has been absent from South Vietnam
for nearly 20 years, it seems unlikely that he retains
very extensive support. There have been indications,
however, that he has a following in the Hue area, and
that at least one An Quang Buddhist leader may be
interested in Bao Dai's return.
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Communist Reconstruction Efforts
Communist main force units in South Vietnam are
becor;ing increasingly t.nvolved in the reconstruction
of hai-tlets and other settlement tasks. According to
the US Embassy, newly constructed housing areas have
been reported in enemy-held areas along Route 22,
north of Tay Ninh City, and in the Michelin Plantation
region of Binh Duong Province. Aerial observation of
the Saigon River corridor northwest of the provincial
capital of Phu Cuong revealed at least a dozen per-
manent individual homes solidly constructed.
Most of the building is probably the work of the
North Vietnamese 7th Division. According to the South
Vietnamese Military Re,ion 3 staff, elements of this
division have been ordered to build houses and clear
land in Commu.taist-held regions of Tay Ninh and Binh
Duong provinces in preparation for the return of
civilians. The division's 141st Regiment, for ex-
ample, has been assigned to construct houses along a
five-mile stretch of Route 13 a few miles north of a
major government strong point at Lai i.:,e. Other North
Vietnamese infantry and sapper units have been tasked
with refurbishing abandoned South Vietnamese military
bases and setting up defenses for newly established
hamlets.
Although many of these areas may still be un-
inhabited the reconstruction effort indicates that
the Communists hope to siphon off population from
government-held areas to fill their largely unin-
habited zones once the fighting dies down. In areas
that are likely tc remain sparsely populated, such
as the highlands, the Communists probably plan to
set up permanent installations and barracks to enable
their units to be relatively self-sufficient. F
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