THE SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A000800100001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 15, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 3, 1966
• Content Type: IM

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NO FOREIGN DISSEM
OCI No. 1545/66
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Office of Current Intelligence
3 June 1966
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
The Situation in South Vietnam
(As of A.M. EDT)
1. Official reporting confirms that Thich Tam
Chau has submitted his resignation as chairman of
the Buddhist Institute, but it is not yet clear that
his resignation has been formally accepted, There
are indications that moderate Buddhists are attempt-
ina to persuade Chau to reconsider.
auxs resigna-
25X1X
tion was in part a ploy to try to improve his position
2. Chau, since his return from
Ceylon, has been un er heavy pressure from the Bud-
dhist extremists either to go along with an all-out
effort to bring down the Ky government or face expul-
sion from the Institute chairmanship. Press reports
indicate that Chauts resignation was submitted after
a stormy session by Institute leaders at which five
younger monks threatened immediate self-immolation
if the compromise agreement with Ky and Chief of
State Thieu were approved by the Buddhist church.
Tri Quang had
cab a is i approve from Hue.
According to the Saigon press, Chau's close follower
Thich Ho Giac has also resigned as deputy chief of
the Buddhist chaplain corps. Saigon communique
variously state that the Institute is temporarily
under control of deputy chairmen Thich Phap Tri and
Thien Hoa, both southerners, and of Thich Quang Lien,
GROUP I
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
NO SECREN TSSEM
25X1X
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the somewhat wavering Yale-educated monk who is,
however, generally identified as a moderate.
3. 25X1X
Chauts resignation will rapidly lead
eover of the Buddhist Institute by the ex-
d police thus anticipate more violence.
4. The situation in Hue, and elsewhere in I
Corps on the anniversary of Buddha?s birth, is quiet.
Barricades set up on the streets of Hue by the struggle
forces have been removed today. I Corps commander
General Lam told the US Marine commander in Da Nang
today that the "Hue problem is solved," although he
admitted difficulties stilllie ahead. He also con-
firmed that, as an outcome of the recent meeting be-
tween Premier Ky and General Thi, Thi was now help-
ing to solve the Hue situation. Earlier, Thi had
been quoted as stating he was personally representing
Ky in the effort to restore Saigon's authority over
the city. There are still no reports, however, that
the 1st Division elements now in Hue are taking ac-
tion to disarm student dissidents.
5. Saigon is reported quiet today, although
the press indicates that theBuddhist Institute is
closing its doors to Buddhist followers attempting
to celebrate Buddha's birthday. A communique issued
yesterday by Tam Chau prior to his resignation had
generally appealed for a normal religious commemora-
tion by monks and nuns at their own pagodas. The
same communique had claimed an amiable agreement with
Ky and Thieu, who had "gladly promised to give up
power to other persons following reconstitution of
the Directorate,"
6. According to a press report from Hue, Tri
Quang tonight (Saigon time) stated that Buddhist
followers would be urged to boycott the constitu-
tional assembly elections in September, and that the
Buddhists could not agree to any elections organized
under the present government. Quang also apparently
reiterated his attacks on the US for supporting the
Thieu-Ky government.
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7. Hanoi Radio today denounced the Buddhist
Institute-government agreement as a "farce" staged
by the Thieu-Ky clique and "US agent" Tam Chau, and
declared that the recent grenade attack on Tri Quang*s
lieutenant Thien Minh was a US-Saigon "plot" to elim-
inate a voice opposed to this "trick" of a negotiated
reconciliation. Both Hanoi and the Liberation Front
radios attacked the sending of troops to Hue as an
example of US-Saigon efforts to repress the opposition
forces. The Front--possibly in an oblique reference
to Tri Quangts earlier appeals for US support--observed
that some groups had "made a mistake in hoping that
the Americans will side with them to overthrow Thieu
and Ky."
NO FOREIGN DISSEM
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