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Red defector says Hanoi holding U.Smenvv'-A■vv ..*.VN * .1'MySAIGON (AP) — A junior North Vietnamese officer who defected to South Vietnam said Friday he was instructed to sabotage international peacekeeping planes and convoys en-route to investigate alleged Communist violations.Nguyen Thanh Son, alias Manh Du, 25, said in an interview he also believes the North Vietnamese are still holding some American prisoners, in effect as hostages to ensure that all mines are removed and -that Hanoi receives U.S. reconstruction money.“They want to keep U.S. prisoners because there are many problems to be settled with the U.S. government, he said. “They want to keep prisoners in case the U.S. government launches war again. They will have some prisoners.’ ’Son refused to elaborate further.The tall, tough-built warrant officer said investigators fromthe International Commission of Control and Supervision came to Sa Huynh in Quang Ngai province where he was stationed. But he said there were no acts of sabotage against them though several battalions in his division received orders to lay mines, institute shellings and pretend to be village people when the commission came.Son said the coastal port of Sa Huynh, 275 miles northeast of Saigon, was seized by the Communists before the Jan. 27 cease-fire but recaptured by government troops shortly after the peace agreement took effect.The Viet Cong were hoping to use Sa Huynh as one of their three points of entry for replacement of armaments — and Son said immediate North Vietnamese plans in the northern coastal Quang Ngai region are “to try to take Sa Huynh as soon as possible.”Son, who defected April 4, said the Viet Cong's Provisional Revolutionary Government plans to establish its capital in South Vietnam in Ba To district of Quang Ngai province, about 20 miles northwest of Sa Huynh.If this proves true, Sa Huynh would be a critical piece of land for the Viet Cong to capture since it also is one of the few spots along South Vietnam’s northern coast where vital Highway 1 runs near stdne's throw of the sea.Originally, Son said, the Viet Cong wanted the central highlands city of Kontum as its capital but dropped the idea after . the spring 1972 offensive when they failed to capture the cityin weeks of heavy fighting.Son said the North Vietnamese don’t plan to launch a general offensive until 1976 — before the U.S. presidential elections.“Right now, they don’t want to launch an offensive. They’re afraid of the reaction of world opinion as well as President Nixon, he said.Nonetheless, he said, the North Vietnamese are infiltrating men and material “at ahigher rate” down the Ho Chi Minh trail into South Vietnam.In Quang Ngai, Son said, the Communists now have more than 100 tanks, numerous 122 m.m. and 130 m.m. heavy artillery pieces and many surface to air missiles.The defecting officer said the North Vietnamese want the commission to fail because they want South Vietnam under Communist control.
Newspaper Details
Corpus Christi Caller
Corpus Christi, Texas, US
Sat, Jun 09, 1973
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 06 Feb 2019
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