MUTE


1.
CU President Thieu shaking hands with soldiers.
0.14

2.
MV Group of soldiers
0.21

3.
MLV From rear President Thieu addressing troops (2 shots)
0.32

4.
CU Soldiers
0.35

5.
CU President speaking
0.38

6.
MLV Rear view of Thieu speaking.
0.43

7.
CU President speaking SOF STARTS: "We end the operation because we judge the objective which we have prescribed ourselves having been achieved." SOF ENDS.
0.53



Initials VS/22.32 VS/22.42



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The President of South Vietnam, Nguyen Van Thieu, last Wednesday (31 March) inspected 1,000 troops of South Vietnam's Second Airborne Brigade who were involved in some of the heaviest fighting of the Laotian campaign. He congratulated the men on their fighting spirit, and said that the operation in Laos had attained all its objectives.

SYNOPSIS: The President of South Vietnam congratulates troops after the Laos campaign. These men belong to South Vietnam's Airborne Brigade ..they were involved in some of the heaviest fighting in Laos. The operation hasn't finished, President Nguyen Van Thieu said...it had never been terminated, but had entered into a different phase. The second phase of the attack on the Ho Chi Minh trial would be the rapid deployment of troops "anytime and anywhere" to disrupt the flow of traffic into Cambodia and South Vietnam.

South Vietnamese troops won a great victory in Laos, the biggest battle of the whole Vietnam war, the President said. He complimented them on their fighting spirit, and said they would win many more victories. President Thieu has been visiting his troops stationed in the five northernmost provinces of South Vietnam.