US search team finds no US POWs in Laos

The United States financed and helped train a secret mercenary force that went to Laos to see of Americans --were imprisoned in a jungle camp, the Washington Post reported. The team, believed to be 20 to 30 Asians, returned this week, but found no evidence that Americans were bein held in the camp despite US intelligence reports to the contrary. The team photographed the camp's inmates to supplement information collected by the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The government has been under pressure from families of servicemen missing in the Vietnam war to investigate the possibility they are being held prisoner. The Pentagon estimates there are 2,528 Americans unaccounted for there, including 1,2 37 listed as missing in action.