Laird Says Withdrawal On Schedule

Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird told a Pentagon news conference yesterday that he believes current U. S. troop withdrawal timetables will proceed on schedule.

"There is nothing developing militarily that would cause us not to meet or beat" the May goal of reducing U. S. forces to 284,000, he said.

Laird also announced that he would fly to Vietnam next month to assess the military, situation there personally.

He plans to stop in Paris for consultations with the American peace negotiators before flying on to the war zone.

The purpose of his trip to Vietnam will be to "assess the progress of the Vietnamization program; to assess the military assistance programs; and also to confer with Gen. Creighton W. Albrams on what lies ahead as far as further troop reductions" are concerned, he said.

Laird also stated that the United States is currently slightly ahead of its troop withdrawal schedule. Moreover, he predicted that by January 5, "we will be below 340,000..."

Pentagon officials said that withdrawals may have to be slowed down for the next two months, in preparation for a possible lunar New Year offensive by the NLF.

When questioned about an apparent extension of the U. S.'s bombing policy, Laird insisted that "there's been no basic change..."