Marred Charm

The prince the U.S. had backed in Laos gave up the ghost last week.

The occasion was the private summit conference of the three key Laotian princes, who met amidst a swirl of tubby vacationers at Zurich's Dolder Grand Hotel. At the end of five days of talk, greying Prince Boun Oum, ineffectual Premier of the royal government, sighed wearily: "All I want is tranquillity." Prince Souvanna Phouma, who espouses a doctrine called "neutrality in neutralism" and who is recognized as Premier by the Communists, tolerantly explained: "Boun Oum is a patriot, but he let himself be used by the Americans. He wants to get out of politics. I would like to do the same thing, but the people are all behind me, and I cannot let them down."

Pate & Charm. The meetings, over fine French wines and pate de foie gras, were amiable enough. "This should not take too long," Prince Souvanna explained, puffing on a big cigar. "Long conferences have no charm, and charm is one of the ingredients of life, at least among Laotians." The charm was slightly marred for Souvanna by acute discomfort from a boil so located as to make prolonged sitting painful (he skipped one session).

But his side was ably represented by his half brother, "Red Prince" Souphanouvong, who commands the Communist Pathet Lao guerrillas. Souphanouvong pressed his points hard, and Boun Oum soon collapsed. Boun Oum agreed to merge the royal army with the Pathet Lao--though just how this could be accomplished while the Pathet Lao were still periodically storming army outposts back in Laos, nobody could explain. The three princes bucked to dreamy King Savang Vatthana the thorny task of picking a coalition government, a procedure that would effectively bypass the National Assembly, where Boun Oum still commands a strong anti-Communist majority. Boun Oum agreed to disown SEATO, which guarantees Laos against outside aggression, and to establish diplomatic relations with Laos' "neighbors," meaning Red China and North Viet Nam. The princes called for new elections and the departure of all foreign troops from Laos. "Details"' were to be worked out at the princes' next meeting--for which no time or place was set.

Good Loser. Genial in defeat (he quickly made friends with three blondes in Zurich), Boun Oum might have given away still more points had not the Bolder Grand told the princes that they would have to get out to make room for tourists. That shifted the scene once again to the 14-nation conference on Laos in Geneva, where prospects were no more encouraging. The argument was mostly about helicopters (did or did not the I.C.C. need them to police the cease-fire?). Publicly, the U.S. promised to pull out its 300 military advisers from Laos if North Viet Nam would withdraw its estimated 1,000 soldiers. Privately, the U.S. delegation admitted that Boun Oum's government was as good as dead and that the next top man in Laos would be Souvanna Phouma--the very man the U.S. had tried hard to get rid of.

Back home in Laos, politicians and army chiefs were panting to make a deal with Souvanna, in hopes that his pro-Russian "neutralism" could hold out for at least a while against his half brother's Communism, which is uncompromising and jungle-bred.

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