The World - News from Nov. 23, 1988

Vietnam has withdrawn all of its troops from Laos because there is no longer a threat to Laos’ security, a Laotian government official said. Deputy Foreign Minister Soubanh Srithirath said in an interview in Vientiane that “because relations with Thailand and China have improved . . . there is no threat to our security. There are no more Vietnamese troops in Laos.” Thailand and Laos fought a border war last winter, but relations have since improved, as have ties with China. Vietnamese troops had been in Laos since the end of the Indochina War in 1975.