Cease-Fire

Except for a few scattered shots here and there, an uneasy cease-fire settled over Laos.

It was arranged in the usual haphazard way that Laotians get things done. The Royal Army insisted on meeting in no man's land near a village called Ban Vang Ky. As a point of pride, the Communist Pathet Lao demanded rather that the two sides meet at Ban Namone. Instead, a Royal Army lieutenant colonel and a Pathet Lao major ran into each other near a place called Ban Hin Heup and agreed to come back next day with some white flags and aides. They did, and agreed to a "theoretical and provisional" ceasefire, leaving the details imprecise. Nonetheless, the Royal Army promptly began trucking its troops back from the front lines just as if the war were over.

Even with a cease-fire in effect, the confusion got no better. The Royal Army said that the talks in no man's land were for the purpose of arranging a formal ceasefire, which would then be policed by the International Control Commission (India, Poland, Canada), now in New Delhi and planning to go to Laos this week. Prince Souvanna Phouma, whom the Communists recognize as Premier, said that the talks were to agree on a joint delegation to represent Laos at the Geneva conference.

Whenever the conference gets under way, Geneva will not be a happy occasion for the West. There the Red Chinese will sit down as equals with the U.S., and the Peking radio is already laying down the line that the Communists will appear as victors to dictate the future of Laos. The Pathet Lao will be out to ratify its conquest of half of Laos by acquiring a major voice in a coalition government. Reportedly it wanted the ministries of Interior, Rural Affairs and Information--meaning control of police, peasants and propaganda. As candidate for Premier, Souvanna Phouma has all but lost any status as a neutralist. Last week he announced a cultural and economic treaty with North Viet Nam calling for the exchange of experts in economic, cultural and other fields and clearing the way for the establishment of the North Vietnamese brand of Communism in Laos.

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