Nguyen Cao Ky, Ex-General Who Ruled South Vietnam, Dies at 80

[alp227]

Source: Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Nguyen Cao Ky, the former air force general who ruled South Vietnam with an iron fist for two years during the Vietnam War, died Saturday. He was 80.

Mr. Ky died at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, where he was being treated for a respiratory complication, his nephew in Southern California told The Associated Press.

“He was in good health, but in the last couple of weeks he had been weak,” the nephew, Peter Phan, said. He said Mr. Ky split his time between his home in California and Vietnam.

One of his nation’s most colorful leaders, Mr. Ky served as prime minister of South Vietnam, which was backed by the United States, in the mid-1960s. He had been commander of South Vietnam’s air force when he assumed the post in 1965, the same year American involvement in the war escalated.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/world/asia/23nguyen.html