BOMBING RAIDS GAMBLE BY NIXON AN LOC ROUT FOR US PUPPETS

THE SIEGE of An Loc, 60 miles N of Saigon, is* turning into a crushing defeat for American imperialism and its S Vietnamese puppet army.

The battle for An Loc-capital of the Bin Long province - has been raging for ten days and the town has twice been all but overrun • by N Vietnamese tanks and infantry.

Only the arrival of 1,000 paratroopers on Saturday saved the government garrison from complete defeat as the liberation forces mounted their second major assault at the weekend.

The northern part of An Loc is now firmly in the hands of the liberation forces and the surviving members of the government garrison are fighting hopelessly to carry out President Thieu's order to hold it at all costs.

ToC, SV The huge relief force sent up Highway 13 from Saigon has failed to get closer than 11 miles from An Loc. The S Vietnamese were reported yesterday to . falling back towards Saigon.

While S Vietnamese commanders held crisis talks with their American advisers in Lai Khe, headquarters of the relief force, command post was shaken by a violent explosion - National Liberation Front sappers had blown a nearby ammunition dump sky-high.

Defeat at An Loc could be as serious for the Americans as the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu 18 years ago. Thieu has committed almost all his local units, including elements of his own palace guard, -to try and lift the siege.

On other fronts, the N Vietnamese are still pushing forward. Yesterday they drove Saigon forces out of Camp Bastogne, one of the key staging posts on the road to Kontum, a provincial capital in the centre of S Vietnam. And tanks and infantry are still pushing southwards towards Hue and Da Nang further N.

American desperation at the worsening military situatic S of the border is reflected in President Nixon's decision to bomb Hanoi and Haiphong, the two main towns of N Vietnam.

To try and save his S Vietnamese client state, the US president is forced to put his own political future cn the line. His action has already provoked an outcry in Washington, and is likely to do serious damage to his chance of reelection.

Bombing the N is no longer a simple matter for the Americans. They face skilful and sophisticated anti- aircraft defences around both Hanoi and Haiphong, and the Vietnam News Agency yesterday reported that 1l of the attacking US bombers had been brought down.

The decision to bomb the N Vietnamese capital is a clear admission that the US air offensive on targets just N of the demilitarized zone has failed.

It ties Nixon's fate even more closely to that of his demoralized and incompetent Saigon allies. But it will not save the S Vietnamese from a devastating defeat in the current offensive.

The N Vietnamese offensive has enormous revolutionary implications for the whole of SE Asia because it demonstrates decisively that imperialism can be defeated and its 'Vietnamization' plans smashed. Rail talks chairman 'picked out of hat'

INDUSTRIAL

THE THREE rail unions were locked in discussions with British Rail management late yesterday under the chairmanship of 'independent' referee Alex Jarratt.

Jarratt, managing director of the giant International Publishing Corporation, publishers of the 'Daily Mirror, was formerly a member of the Prices and Incomes Board.

As the cliff-hanging talks went on, railmen i reporting for duty were given instructions the introduction of the work-to-rule due to start at midnight.

E and S regions reported that there would be heavy-cancellations today.

Before going into the talks, ASLEF's general secretary, Ray Buckton, said:

am • always hopeful, always optimistic.

Asked who had selected Jarratt, Sir Sidney Greene of the NUR said: 'We picked him out of a hat nationalization amendment