Laos to Let U.S. Inspect Site of Mystery Photo

Laos will let American investigators visit the site where a surveillance photo showed what may have been a U.S. military rescue code dug into the ground, a U.S. senator said Thursday.

American teams will also see previously closed areas where there have been reported sightings of people who could be MIAs, said Sen. John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate committee on missing U.S. servicemen.

He announced the agreement after returning from a day trip to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

The U.S. satellite photo, taken in January, 1988, shows the 12-foot-high letters “USA,” with something underneath that could be the letter “K.” The letter “K” was used as a secret emergency code by American fliers during the Vietnam War.

Some people say the letters might have been a signal from an American who has been held prisoner since the Vietnam War. Experts agree that the “USA” was man-made, but they are not sure whether the other marking was a “K,” or whether it was intentionally stamped out in a rice paddy.

Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, is visiting Southeast Asia with Sens. Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) and Hank Brown (R-Colo.) to seek more information on the 2,265 Americans unaccounted for since the war. That includes 519 servicemen missing in action in Laos.

Kerry and Daschle met with the prime minister of Laos, Khamtai Siphandon, and Foreign Minister Phoun Sipaseut to seek assistance for the MIA search.

Laos agreed to give U.S. experts access to film archives and will allow Lao-speaking Asian-Americans to serve as members of search teams, Kerry said.

The senators flew to Vientiane after a three-day visit to Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, where they said they received full cooperation from Vietnamese officials.

Vietnam, which is seeking international help to rebuild its economy, hopes to improve relations with the United States.