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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-04871 and 363-06645.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-04871 and 363-06645
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Title
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Viet Musical Chairs: Khanh in, Aid Out
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Description
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Article published in the New York Herald Tribune about the aftermath of Khanh's return to politics after a five day "retirement", page 1 and 2
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Transcript
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- Page 1
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Viet Musical Chairs:
Khanh In, Aid Out
By Beverly Deepe
A Special Correspondent
SAIGON.
South Viet Nam strongman
Maj. Gen. Nguyen Khanh re-
turned to his duties as Pre-
mier yesterday and immedi-
ately began dealing with dis-
sident Buddhists and Army
factions.
The first note of new dis-
cord was sounded early today
when Defense Minister Tran
Thien Khiem, one of three
generals who ruled this war-
torn nation in a triumvirate
for the past week resigned.
Gen. Khiem's resignation
came only a day after the
country's caretaker govern-
ment apparently reverted to
Gen. Khanh's control.
It was not clear whether
Gen. Khiem, a Roman Cath-
olic, was resigning only as
Defense Minister or as both
Defense Minister and member
of the triumvirate. But it ap-
peared that he would be out
of the government completely.
This morning the triumvi
rate-Gens. Khanh, Khiem
and Maj. Gen. Duong Van
Minh, former chief of state-
held their first session since
Gen. Khanh returned from
five days of "temporary re-
tirement" in the mountain
resort of Dalat.
Immediately after the gen-
erals met, officials of the
government were summoned
to the Premier's office for
More on KHANH-P2
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- Page 2
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Post Office at New York as Second Class Mail Matter
New York Herald Tribune
Friday, September 4, 1964
Khanh in Control Again-He Wheels and Deals
(Continued from page one)
an emergency session of the
cabinet.
Gen. Khanh, who was sup-
posedly exhausted by the
turmoil of the past two
weeks, flew back to the capl-
tal unexpectedly; only a day
earlier he had said that he
might not take up the bur-
dens of the Premiership for
two weeks or more, after
United States Ambassador
Maxwell D. Taylor had pre-
dicted that the Premier
would take over again in a
matter of days.
Reliable government sources
said Gen. Khanh made these
important decisions on his
first day back at his desk:
"Definitely decided" to
reassign at least three off-
cers who belong to the power-
ful Dai Viet party, which he
says has already attempted
one coup against his regime
and might pian another.
Ordered Nguyen Ton
Hoan, one of his Deputy Pre-
miers and a leader of the Dai
Viet faction, to get out of is openly aiding the Commu-
Sout Viet Nam within 48 nist cause.
hours.
Made his biggest conces-
sion yet to Buddhist elements
opposing his government by
ordering the release of all
Buddhist demonstrators 'ar-
rested during last week's
protests against alleged per-
secution.
Won postponement of a
new Buddhist hunger strike
scheduled in protest against
"Indiscriminate arrests, pro-
vocations and oppression."
Barring unforeseen compli-
cations, Gen. Khanh is now
expected to remain in power
for another 60 days, until a
15-man council names a new
chief executive and writes a
new constitution.
For days government off-
cials have been waiting to see
whether the Premier would
make a comeback and
whether he would adopt a
hard or soft line toward the
Buddhist movement, which
more and more qualified ob-
servers in Saigon now believe
In the face of a threat by
the Buddhist leader Thich
Tam Chau to begin a 48-hour
fast, the Premier agreed to
the release of all the rioters
arrested last week, including
those with Communist con-
nections or previous police
records. More than 500 have
already been freed, the gov-
ernment said: Buddhist
sources insisted that some 300
were still being detained.
The order to release the
Buddhists was a severe blow
to police officials, already
badly demoralized after Gen.
Khanh's attempt to deal with
the Buddhist protests without
repression. Army officers, too.
are said to believe that the
general may sell out openly to
potentially pro Communist
Buddhist elements. Both the
police and the army are ap-
parently dividing into soft-
line pro-Khanh and hard-line
anti-Khanh factions on the
Buddhist issue.
In a nation with more than
its share of generals, the three
officers Gen. Khanh has re-
portedly decided to reassign
are relatively low in rank, even
though one of them, Brig.
Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, is
the army chief of stafff.
The other officers sup-
posedly in line for transfer
are Col. Huynh Van Ton,
commander of the 7th Divi-
sion south of Saigon, and LA.
Col. Duong Hieu Nghia, who
commands the armored units
assigned to protect the capi-
tal. Both commands would be
vital to Gen. Khanh in the
event of an attempted coup,
and he evidently does not
trust either of the com-
manders.'
Gen. Minh was far to the
north in Hue with Nguyen
Xuan Oanh. the Deputy
Premier who became Acting
Premier last week end when
Gen. Khanh went into s
clusion in Dalat. They were
trying to placate still another
anti-government
faction
with promises that the 15-
man council to be named
within 60 days will help
restore democratic govern-
ment to South Viet Nam.
Their promises were less
than totally successful in the
onetime Imperial capital
where Le Khúc Quyen's Peon
ple's Salvation Council is
campaigning hard for more
democratic government. Dr.
Quyen, who heads the unl-
versity medical faculty in
Hue, seemed unimpressed. He
said the council would "fight
to the last man" unless some-
thing is done to restore civil-
ian rule in Saigon.
He also conferred with his
Justice Minister, Nguyen Van
Mau, the mayor of Saigon,
Brig. Gen. Duong Ngoe Lam,
and the capital's police chief,
Col. Nugyen Thanh Ben. All
were reportedly restive under
the order to release arrested
Buddhists, and Col. Ben was
said to have offered his res-
ignaton on the issue several
times.
What particularly enraged
the police chief, it was under-
stood, was Gen. Khanh's or-
der to yield police records on
the arrested Buddhists to
Buddhist monks on the
ground that they were com-
piled under the regime of the
late President Dinh Diem and
were therefore inaccurate.
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Date
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1964, Sep. 4
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Subject
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Nguyễn, Khánh, 1927-2013; Vietnam (Republic)--Politics and government
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Location
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Saigon, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.8231; 106.6311
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Container
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B186
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Format
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newspaper clippings
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
