Scenes at news conference in Hanoi; Captain Jones enters with arm in sling; the Captain's voice laid over scenes of him at the conference (SOF).



TRANSCRIPT: CAPTAIN JONES: "I am a captain in the United States Air Force - series number FR-69506, 333rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Takli Air Base Thailand. On the 29th June 1966, I was ordered to fly and F-105 from Takli Air Base, Thailand, to attack a target in Hanoi. While approaching the target my aircraft was hit by very heavy ground fire. I had only enough time to bail out. When I landed on the ground I was immediately captured by your own local people and military men. I am very much sorry for my criminal act against the Vietnamese people."




Initials RM/V/MR/GH



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: About 20 North Vietnamese soldiers captured in a battle this year will be released by the South Vietnamese Government next Wednesday -- the 12th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Agreement that divided Vietnam. Meanwhile, one of the American pilots shot down and captured during a raid on Hanoi, Captain Murphy Neal Jones -- who faces possible execution as a "war criminal" -- has told a news conference in Hanoi that he is very sorry about taking part in what he called "a crime against the Vietnamese."
The news conference was held on the 29th of June for the International Correspondents Club in Hanoi, soon after an air raid. A North Vietnamese military spokesman told the newsmen that all pilots captured after being shot down during raids over North Vietnam would be "punished as war criminals." Twenty-eight-year-old Captain Jones was then brought in to make a statement. In this, recorded separately from the film, he said...