Monday, May 1, 1972
Ky Sees A Boost In Drive
HUE, Vietnam (AP) --Former vice president Nguyen Cao Ky said Saturday he expects the North Vietnamese offensive to intensify within the next month before the Communist command makes a bid for peace."The situation is serious but not desperate," Ky said after a dinner with Gen. Hoang Xum Lam, commander of the 1st Military Region embracing the northern provinces.He said in Binh Long Province north of Saigon, the central highlands provinces of Kontum and Pleiku, and northernmost Quang Tri and Thua Thien provinces are major fronts."The Communists have a good balance of force on all three fronts, tanks and the equivalent of four divisions on each front," Ky declared. "It would be very wrong to think that some of these fronts are diversionary."Ky told newsmen he was visiting Hue, "both in my capacity as air vice marshal and as a friend of the military commanders here. Besides, I have nothing to do in Saigon."Lam told newsmen his forces "can hold Quang Tri." He said there was "no threat to Hue" despite the fact that North Vietnamese forces have cut Highway 1 between Hue, the old imperial capital, and the Quang Tri provincial capital.Ky affirmed that he and Lam had worked out a plan to reopen the key supply route and keep it open."Do not worry about Highway 1," Ky said."Ky Sees A Boost In Drive", by (AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Monday, May 1, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.