DEVELOPMENTS IN INDOCHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00875R001100010024-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 12, 2008
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: March 25, 1973
• Content Type: SUMMARY

 Approved For Release 2008/02/12 CIA-RDP85T00875RO01100010024-9
Top Secret
( a/ )/`) /9 / if)
DIRECTORATE OF
I NT1ELLIGENCIi
Develop tints in Indochina
State Dept. review
completed
RETURN TO DSQ
1U,-007, Hq.
IMIL
LOAN COPY
l_J
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DEVELOPMENTS IN INDOCHINA
(inforrnzt'.o;t al" of 1";00)
SOUTH VIETNAM
The Communists have not renewed their
pressure against Tonle Cham, but the situation
remains critical. Government and Communist
delegates have agreed upon setting up the
Two-Party Joint Military Commission in Saigon,
but the question of the: deployment of teams
to the countryside remains unsolved.
The military situation remains calm.
Page
1
The Communists have given "new instructions"
to one of their negotiators, while another has
provided an insight on what they hope to
achieve in the new National Political Council.
CAMBODIA
Prince Sihanouk has reaffirmed his stand
on the war during a broadcast datelined
Shanghai. A Republican Party official claims
to have been the target of an assassination
attempt. The government has begun clearing
a road south of Phnom Penh while Khmer insur-
gents remain active in several areas. The
government claims to have rebuffed Khmer insurgent
offers to negotiate.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
The Communists thus far have not renewed their
pressure against the Tonle Cham ranger camp,
following the three-hour truce on 24 March. The
situation at the camp remains critical, however,
and it is believed to be untenable. A heavy
Communist barrage prior to the truce leveled
what was left of the camp, and supplies for its
200 defenders have been depleted. Casualties of
both sides were evacuated during the truce under
the supervision of the ICCS and military truce
team members, who subsequently left Toile Cham
despite government appeals to stay on.
There are reports that the South Vietnamese
Military Region 3 commander, General Minh, is
determined not to lose the camp and may try a
relief operation with one or two army regiments.
Vitt Cong radiobroadcasts indicate that the
Communists consider the area arounc' Tonle Cham
to be part of their territory, however, and are
prepared to vie with Saigon for its control.
There was some sharp fighting in the highlands
as South Vietnamese regulars continued clearing
efforts west of Route 14 in the Kontum-Pleiku
provincial border area. Ranger units have been
given an ambitious task of clearing a large section
of western Pleiku Province lying north of Thanh
An District capital. The government appare,itly
is not going to try to retake several positions
closer to the border that were lost earlier this
year, however.
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Communis;5 '~/ ~//puang Tri
blacktoppinJ Khi! sand
14
01 Fighting
,Pic lku
.1/.?A rrtU~
Communist pressur
Gulf of
Thailand
NORIII
\nVItINAM
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photography of the Khe Sanh area reveals that the
Communists are blacktopping sections of a road
near the airfield, probably to make it useable
during the upcoming wet season.
Two-Party Joint Military Commission
Representatives of the Thieu government and
the Viet Cong have ironed out some of their
differences over setting up the Two-Party Joint
Military Commission (TPJMC), which is to be
inaugurated on 29 March. The two sides have
agreed that the total strength of each party's
delegation will be between 1,200 and 1,500. Still
unresolved is the question of how TPJMC teams
will be deployed outside of Saigon.
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Military Situation
There were no mayor cease-fire violations over the
weekend. in the southern panhandle minor skirmishes
continue northeast of Khong Sedone and southeast of
Thakhek, where government troops have launched a clearing
operation. 25X1
Souvanna on Negotiattono
According to a Pathet Lao radiobroadcast, Communist
negotiator Phoune Sipraseuth has received "new instruc-
tions" from the Pathet Lao Central Committee in Sam
Neua. The earliest that Phoune could return to Vientiane
to resume talks with the government would be 27 March,
when the ICC flight arrives from Hanoi.
More on Communise Neg;tiatiQY Strategy_ 25X1
Communist negotiator Souk Vongsak provided new
insight on what the Pathet Lao hope to achieve by the
creation of a Joint Nationa.1 Political Council during
talks with the government on 21 March. Souk insisted
that the council must exist on an equal footing with
a new coalition government and that both should be
formed at the same time. Moreover, the council, according
to Souk, should have subcommittees corresponding to key
governmental functions such as defense and foreign
affairs.
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While these demands are subject to further
negotiation, it is becoming increasingly clear that
the Pathet Lao envision the council as a political
fallback position should they be unable to dominate
a coalition government headed by Souvanna. The
Communists will probably try to undermine the authority
of the coalition government, dominating those council
subcommittees that correspond to cabinet positions not
under their control. Thus, the Pathet Lao, since they
claim the council to be of equal status with the
government, may hope to hamstring any government
decision not to their liking by turning to the council
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Kt,mpong Thom
Kompmtg Chhnang,
Kontpong Chant ?t
?fiattomhantl
CAMBODIA
Kompong Som,,
PHNOM PENH
Prey Wily
Kontpong Spell.
Insurgent
~~ tot cupic:cl
Urwr:nunmrt dtn:ratibns i
Neak
(lunq
nsuryr:ut occupied
11
ittstlrgent
attack, 16'
Pom
T o
1.'.
SOUTH VIETN4M
MILES 25
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25X1
In anc.ther in his seri-ns of messages to the Cam-
bodian people, Prince Sihanouk on 23 March reaffirmed
his stand that the war in Cambodia will continue as
long as Washington refuses to talk or negotiate di-
rectly with his "government" and continues its "vio-
lations" of that article of the Paris agreement that
pertains to Cambodia. The message also reiterated
that any negotiations with the present government in
Phnom Penh were impossible.
The dateline of the message--Shanghai--seems
designed to give the impression that Sihanouk is
still in that city. Sihanouk has not been seen in
public since his departure or. 16 February from Hainan
Island "for Shanghai." His long seclusion has led
to considerable speculation about his whereabouts.
Perhaps the most popular theory is that he is visit-
ing a "liberated" area of Cambodia. Early this year,
Sihanouk said that he hoped to make such a visit be-
fore he travels to various East European and African
capitals in May or June. There has been some evi-
dence, however, that the Khmer insurgents were op-
posed 1.o receiving their nominal leader. In any
case, when Sihanouk does resurface he is likely
to have some significant pronouncements to make.
?oliticaZ Assassination Attempt
A prominent official of Sirik Matak's Republ~.can
Party has told US Embassy officials that two Honda
riders tossed a grenade into his jeep on 24 March.
Although he wci able to throw the grenade into
the street before it exploded, the official was
wounded slightly. He attributed the incident to
Brigadier General Lon Non, with whom he broke
politically in early 1972.
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Matak, meanwhile, remains under "protective
custody" at his home. His recent published inter-
view with a US correspondent, is which he stated
that Sihanouk would defeat Lon Nol in a free
election, will not hasten his release.
The Military Si tuattion
Government forces on 24 March began a multi-
battalion operation to clear a 15-mile section of Route
1 between Phnom Penh and Neak Luong. Four government
battalions art: attempting to push south along the
highway, while other units are trying to move up Route
1 from the Neak Luong ferry crossing, At last report,
they had made no progress. Meanwhile, the insurgents
continue to harass and probe government positions
along the Mekong north of Neak Luong.
Elsewhere, the insurgents on 25 March attacked
government positions along Route 4 some 50 miles north
of the port of Kompong Som, temporarily clos.ng a
six-mile section of the highway at that poit.L. The
insurgents are also keeping up their attacks on
government positions at Pong Touk in the extreme
southeastern part of the country. Three government
outposts near that small town have been overrun
since 23 March.
Another Negative Note on Negotiat?:'ons
A government spokesman has tcld the press that
the Khmer insurgents have offered to begin negotia-
tions with the Lon Nol government on a peace settle-
ment, but that the government has turned down the
Communist proposals because several conditions were
found unacceptable. According to the spokesman,
the offer was contained in a letter to First Minis-
ter Hang Thun Hak and purportedly was written by
Sihanouk's in-country "minister of interior" Hou
Youn. The spokesman refused to divulge the proposals
25 March 1973
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other than one stipulation that President Lon Nol
and his supporters were not to take part in the ne-
gotiations.
Hak first revealed that he had been in contact
with Hou Youn in a conversation with US Ambassador
Swank late last month. The fragmentary nature of
Hak's accounts of his contacts with Hou Youn and
the uncertainty as to whether Youn is even alive
throw considerable doubt on whether the proposals
are authentic. Even if they are authentic, how-
ever, by divulging them to the press Hak probably
has effect n1 nned off this channel to the in-
surgents.
25 March 1973
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