Word: thieu
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...turned out to be fruitful, Ky would take over. The agenda? Ky's advisers said he was planning to discuss the gamut of problems, from the war itself to the issues of withdrawal and a ceasefire. Any reports that some concrete concessions were in hand were scotched by Thieu himself: "I cannot tell you what we can offer them right now. It depends on their attitude...
Expected Response. It was a significant concession, for Thieu, like other South Vietnamese leaders, had shied away from such meetings on the ground that these might constitute de facto recognition of the Front. Emphasizing this concern, Thieu stressed that the Saigon government has no intention of allowing the N.L.F. to join any sort of coalition government in South Viet Nam, and he barred any Communist participation in elections, at least as overt...
Communists. "They may dissolve and become another political party," he suggested. As for the private talks themselves, Thieu was equally vague. "Nobody can guess the attitude of the Communists. We let them understand we are ready. It's up to them...
...Front's first public response was to be expected. An N.L.F. broadcast called the bid "a crafty trick," and in Paris both Hanoi and N.L.F. negotiators heaped scorn on Thieu's offer. For all the obloquy, however, no spokesman for either group flatly refused the offer of private talks, and Western sources privately described the statements as a matter of routine propaganda, entered for the record before the real talks begin in secret-if they have not already...
Gamut of Problems. In Saigon, reaction to Thieu's move was mixed. Mrs. Kieu Mong Thu, a militant Buddhist member of the National Assembly, said that "President Thieu should have thought of this measure sooner." Supporters of Lawyer Truong Dinh Dzu, the runner-up in the 1967 presidential elections who campaigned on a peace platform and is now in jail, reminded the world that Dzu was sentenced to five years at hard labor last year for suggesting direct talks with the N.L.F. "Thieu should get ten years," said a Saigon politician. A leader of the North Vietnamese Catholic refugees...