Le Duc Tho

Lê Ðức Thọ (audio|Le Duc Tho.ogg|pronunciation) (October 14, 1911 – October 13, 1990) was a Vietnamese revolutionary, general, diplomat, and politician.

Lê Ðức Thọ was born Phan Đình Khải in the Nam Ha province of Vietnam.

In 1930, Lê Ðức Thọ helped found the Indochinese Communist Party. French colonial authorities imprisoned him from 1930 to 1936 and again from 1939 to 1944. After his release in 1945, he helped lead the Việt Minh, the Vietnamese independence movement, against the French, until the Geneva Accords were signed in 1954. He then joined the Lao Dong Politburo of the Vietnam Workers' Party in 1955, now the Communist Party of Vietnam. Lê oversaw the Communist insurgency that began in 1956 against the South Vietnamese government.

Paris Peace Accords

The United States actively joined the Vietnam War during the early 1960s. Several rounds of Paris Peace Talks (some public, some secret) were held between 1969 and 1973. While Xuan Thuy led the official negotiating team representing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at the talks in Paris, Lê and U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger since February 1970 engaged in secret talks that eventually led to a cease-fire in the Paris Peace Accords of January 23, 1973. The basic history of the Accords included: release of POWs within 80 days; ceasefire to be monitored by the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICC); free and democratic elections to be held in South Vietnam; U.S. aid to South Vietnam would continue; DRV troops could remain in South Vietnam.

While January 23 is generally recognized as the enactment date of the Peace Accords, the talks continued out of necessity. Sporadic fighting continued in some regions. While U.S. ground forces were removed by March 29, bombing continued in North Vietnam. Due to continued allegations of ceasefire violations by all sides, Kissinger and Lê Ðức Thọ met in Paris in May and June 1973 for the purpose of getting the implementation of the peace agreement back on track. On June 13 1973, the United States and the DRV signed a joint communique pledging mutual support for full implementation of the Paris Accords.

Nobel Peace Prize

Lê Ðức Thọ and Henry Kissinger were jointly awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in negotiating the Paris Peace Accords. [cite web | title =The Nobel Peace Prize 1973 | publisher =Nobel Foundation | url =http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1973/press.html | accessdate =2006-12-31 ] However, Thọ declined to accept the award, stating that there was still no peace in his country. Thọ is the second person to have voluntarily turned down a Nobel Prize, after the 1964 French literature Nobel winner Jean-Paul Sartre. [cite web | last =Lundestad | first =Geir | authorlink =Geir Lundestad | title =The Nobel Peace Prize 1901-2000 | publisher =Nobel Foundation | date =March 15, 2001 | url =http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/articles/lundestad-review/index.html | accessdate =2006-12-31 ]

References

External links

* [http://wwics.si.edu/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=library.document&id=359 October, 1968 Conversation between Le and Chinese Foreign Minister Chen Yi]