Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-10-09

between the millstones of the
cold war by walking nimbly he
tween them. Only by total
neutraliSm, he maintains, will
the little. mountain ringed
kingdom survive.
He is the only man, he con-
tinues, with the stature to es-
tablish and maintain this neu-
tralism. A veteran of govern
mental affairs, Prince Sou
wanna Is so.
Right-wing Prince Boun
Gum, who heads the American
backed Vientiane government,
and Prince Souphanouvong.
chief of the Communist-ori-
ented Pathet Lao, agreed yes
terday that Prince Souvanna
would head a coalition gov
eminent, subject to the ex-
pected approval Of King
Savang Vathana.
Free Of COnceit
Prince Souvanna's Self-con-
fidence stems neither from ar
rogance nor from conceit. quail
ties from which he appears
singularly free. The decision
at Hin Heup resulted from the
final bitter realization by Boun
Gums conservatives of the
hard fact that not another
man in sparcely populated
Laos could head a coalition of
the three rival factions.
Both France and Britain
have long held that Prince
Souvanna, at the head Of a
neutralist regime, was the only
answer to the Laotian riddle.
The United States has wa
vered between half accept
ance and total rejection Of
this suave. French-speaking,
French-educated Prince only
to find that there appeared to
be no workable alternative.
Prince Souvanna himself
contributed TO Washington's
doubts by moving farther away
from a nonaligned neutralism
to apparently open sympathy
with the policies Of Prince
Souphanouvong. his Commu-
nist-leaning half brother.
Forced Into Exile
Forced out of Vientiane by
the troops Of Rightist Gen.
Phoumi NoSavan last Deem
Der, Prince Souvanna found
exile in Phnom PENN where he
came under the influence of
Prince Norodom Sihanouk,
himself an outspoken neutral
who often leans leftward.
Later he Joined Prince
Souphanouvong in the PLANE
des Jarres, the Laotian plateau
named for its numerous an
Gent burial urns. The lean
toward Moscow, Peiping and
Hanoi-all Of which recog-
nized him as the only legal
Premier-became almost total.
Washington continued to back
Prince Boun Alum and Gen.
Phoumi, although their SOL
diers lost ground steadily.
When the urbane Prince
Souvanna, a man with slow
smile and an unruffled out
ward demeanor, first became
Premier of Laos in 1856, he
earned the title of peacemaker
for the role he played in bring
ing the Pathet Lao back from
diSsidence it had engaged. in
for years.
In those days Of his strict
mclean neutrality, he came
under the influence Of his
brother, Prince PetSarath, one
of the country's great patriots,
who had Just returned from
exile in Thailand. Prince Sou
wanna walked a middle path
between Prince Petsarath and
Prince Souphaonouvong.
Prince Petsarath's death re-
moved this balance wheel and
gave a bigger voice to the short,
handsome, mustached Prince
Souphanouvong, who is 10 years
Prince Souvanna's junior.
Promises Neutrality
In his appearance before the
14-nation conference on Laos
on June IA, Prince Souvanna
laid down his blueprint for his
country. He promised to pro-
claim neutrality, keep Laos out
of any military alliances and
allow no foreign troops to be
stationed in Laos, with the ex-
eeption of $500 French soldiers
provided for in the 1854 armis-
tice agreement.
He suggested that the Inter-
national Control Commission
supervise the present cease
fire, the withdrawal of foreign
troops-the United States,
North Wet Nam and Soviet
Russia have soldiers and tech
nicians in the country-and