No Reply To U.S. Peace Bid

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30957, 13 January 1966, Page 12

No Reply To U.S. Peace Bid

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) WASHINGTON, January 12. A peace bid delivered at a meeting of diplomats from the United States and North Vietnam has so far failed to spark any official reply from the Communists, Administration sources said, United Press International reported.

It was disclosed on Monday night that the United States sent a Note to Hanoi more than a week ago clarifying its position on negotiations on the war in Vietnam and seeking to persuade Communists to go to the conference table.

Administration officials said the United States communication was handed to a North Vietnamese official by an American diplomat at one of the capitals in which the two countries both have representatives.

The message sent to Hanoi apparently was the only “direct” contact between the two Governments. Both sides in the Vietnam war remained as far apart as ever in their public statements. Hanoi, supported by Russia and Communist China, continued to insist that the United States accept its “four point” plan as a ‘basis for negotiations.

The United States rejects the idea that the Communist plan can be the only basis for discussions and also refuses to accept Hanoi’s demand that the Viet Cong have a seat at the conference table.

President Nikolai Podgorny of Russia has told Pope Paul VI that a settlement of Vietnam can be achieved on the basis of North Vietnamese proposals, the Soviet news agency Tass reported. Mr Podgomy was replying to the Pope’s New Year greeting in which he appealed to the Soviet Union, China and other world powers to nelp bring peace in Vietnam.

North Vietnam has listed four demands as the basis for any peace talks in Vietnam. They include the withdrawal of all United States forces from South Vietnam. In Hanoi, the North Vietnamese Prime Minister, Mr Pham Van Dong, delivered lan apparent rebuttal of Chinlese charges that Russia was I conniving with the United States against the interests |of Hanoi and the Viet Cong, i He was speaking at a reception for a Soviet delegation led by the Communist Party Secretary, Mr Alexander Shelepin. Mr Pham thanked Russia and other countries for their aid to North Vietnam. Mr Pham’s speech was seen in Moscow as part of an effort by the Hanoi leadership to walk the tightrope between Russia and China—without seeming too much to favour either side, Reuter reported.