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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, October 18, 1969
Officials silent on possible bomb halt
Bv United Press International
By United Press International Reports swept the world Thursday that Hanoi, Washington and Saigon were on the verge of a compromise toward a beginning of the end of the Vietnam War. But stress was laid on a key question with sources at odds in various capitals:
What is the one crucial sticking point and which party, Hanoi or Saigon, is manning the barricade to a breakthrough?
While the White House and the
President Thieu can't ok US bomb halt on his own
SAIGON (UPI)—Premier Tran Van Huong of South Vietnam said Thursday that President Nguyen Van Thieu, who has been closed in confidential discussions with the American ambassador, could not approve a change in U.S. bombing policy on his own authority.
He said the national assembly must approve it and was quoted by the semi-official Vietnam press agency as saying, "If the bombing halt is not favorable for Vietnam we cannot approve it."
Huong's comments, as quoted by the news agency and then clarified by a spokesman, came as reports deluged Saigon that Washington was attempting to arrange a possible halt in the bombing of North Vietnam in exchange for reciprocal moves by Hanoi.
U. S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker met again with Thieu, Thursday. No meetings were scheduled for Friday so far as was known.
An official spokesman declined to comment on the substance or progress of the Bunker-Thieu talks at the presidential palace.
Thieu met the chairman of the senate and lower house Wednesday following the first two special meetings with Bunker. The national assembly is known to have many members opposed to a bombing halt on all but the most stringent terms.
State Department kept officially silent on the subject, administration officials in Washington said Thursday it is Hanoi and not Saigon that is delaying agreement on the reported threepoint formula that would allow President Johnson to halt all bombing of the North without increasing dangers to allied troops.
Blame Hanoi
Informed Washington sources said the problem was Hanoi's failure thus far to give quite as firm an assurance as Washington demands that it would not take any advantage of the moratorium.
Indications in Paris and Saigon were that the government of Nguyen Van Thieu was raising the objections.
Reports persisted in Paris that Saigon objected to reported U.S. willingness to include the National Liberation Front, political arm of the Viet Cong, in eventual American-North Vietnamese-Saigon talks.
Pham Dang Lam, Saigon's head observer at the Paris talks, emerged from more than an hour with U.S. Ambassador-at-Large W. Averell Harriman in Paris Thursday. The normally voluble Lam brushed aside all questions from the newsmen he normally talks with forthrightly.
Secret Talks
In Saigon, another round of talks between Thieu and U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker were cloaked in secrecy. Observers there speculated the hardest point for Saigon to swallow would be the bombing halt itself, with hawkish members of the government, military and parliament opposed to all but the most stringent terms.
The three-point formula laid down by Johnson is understood to cover restoration of the Demilitarized Zone as such, an end to all military attacks against Saigon cities and terrorism within them, and agreement the Saigon government will be admitted to full-fledged peace talks.
In Washington, the administration officials who saw Hanoi as the source of delay said they were optimistic agreement could be reached in the newr future. Part of their optimism apparently stems from the fact that the Soviet Union is playing a conciliatory role for the first time.
Winter fun by Buskens.
Damage from Gladys, outside of the crops destroyed and homes flooded in a sweep across Cuba Wednesday, mostly was limited to power lines and windows.
One of several tornados spun from the outer edge of the hurricane whisked the roof from a warehouse at West Palm Beach, and electronic equipment was soaked by drenching rains.
Tampa ready for Gladys
TAMPA, Fla. (UPI)—Hurrican Gladys whipped a high pressure system today and swung eastward in the Gulf of Mexico toward the boarded up Tampa Bay area, which has been awaiting the storm since Thursday.
Forecaster Raymond Kraft said the center of Gladys, now packing bare hurricane-force winds of 75 miles an hour, would strike land between Tampa and the fishing village of Cedar Key late today or tonight.
"However, it is strong enough to generate tides of five feet near and up to 50 miles south of the point where the center reaches the coast." Kraft warned.
At 5 a.m., CDT, Gladys was centered about 90 miles west of the Sarasota-Bradenton area near latitude 27.4 north and longitude 84.0 west. It was moving slightly east of due north at 6 mph.
Kraft said heavy rains fanning out from Gladys' center would reach the central and northeast portions of Florida tonight and could dump up to four inches of rain in the area.
The heavy rains that drenched the Miami and Tampa Bay areas Thursday were expected to be pushed into Georgia today as the huge merry-go-round of violent winds waddled up the Florida Gulf Coast.
The northwestern corner of Florida was warned to brace for hurricane force winds and high tides later today. Hurricane warnings south of Sarasota were discontinued in the midnight advisory.
The Inter-Fraternity Council of 1923, in an attempt to cut down "absurd expenses," banned the use of taxicabs except for formals and bad weather.
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