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gv hunger strikers outside national assembly in saigon.
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Sv opposition party leaders on steps.
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Gv monks arrive to join strikers.
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Cu hunger strikers on steps with banner and picture of President Thieu. (3 Shots)
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Gv hunger strikers on steps.
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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Twenty members of the South Vietnamese opposition began a 24-hour hunger strike in Saigon on Monday (February 10) in protest over president thieu's running of the country.....And the war.

The strikers gathered on the steps of the National Assembly. Their action coincided with the Eve of Tet, the Lunar New Year holiday and a date never to be forgotten in South Vietnam. Seven years ago the communists launched an offensive throughout the country which ultimately led to a major rethinking among the South Vietnamese and her allies.

A spokesman for the hunger strikers said that for years President thieu had exploited the time of tet to carry out his dark purposes. The strikers said they would continue their action through the midnight curfew into the new year.

The spokesman accused the President of choosing the tet period....Most sacred of vietnamese holidays....To crack down on the opposition press with the closure of five newspapers and arrest of 18 newsmen alleged to be involved in a communist plot.