Hanoi Says Americans May Be in Vietnam

Vietnamese officials told a U.S. congressional delegation Saturday that some Americans might still be living in remote sections of Vietnam that are not under government control.

The congressmen also were told that Vietnam soon will hand over the remains of 14 U.S. servicemen who were killed during the war and will provide information on an additional 70 listed as missing in action.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hoang Bich Son, emerging from a meeting with the nine visiting congressmen, told reporters that Hanoi officials have no knowledge of Americans under Vietnamese control in Vietnam. But he refused to rule out the possibility that some Americans might be in mountainous or sparsely populated areas without the knowledge of Hanoi officials.

“I have told this delegation as well as others . . . there are no Americans living on Vietnamese soil,” Son said. But “if there are any, that is beyond our control. So we cannot assure you there are none.”

3 Infiltrators Captured

Son said that Vietnamese authorities have captured three Americans who infiltrated illegally into Vietnam since the end of the war, and he added that “there may be others who have not been captured.”

These comments were termed a “major breakthrough” by Rep. Gerald B.H. Solomon (R-N.Y.), who led the nine-member delegation on a weekend trip to Hanoi to seek information about the nearly 2,400 Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War.

He said that Vietnamese officials, who have denied holding any American prisoners, now are taking a significantly different position.

“They have clearly not ruled out the possibility that some live Americans may be in Vietnam. We certainly would . . . work with their government to secure the safe and speedy return of remaining Americans to the United States,” Solomon added.

Solomon said Vietnamese officials have created three investigating teams to check out the reported sightings of Americans by Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian refugees. Last year, American officials received 900 such reports from refugees living in camps along the Thailand-Cambodia border.

Other members of the delegation were California Reps. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and David Dreier (R-La Verne); and Reps. Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.); Bill Hendon (R-N.C.); Frank McCloskey (D-Ind.); Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.); Robert C. Smith (R-N.H.); and John G. Rowland (R-Conn.).