His role allowed him to keep an excellent address book. For example, he was acquainted with the future head of state, General Van Thieu, as well as a future prime minister, General Nguyen Cao Ky. He was required to meet CIA agents, but also established contacts with other intelligence agencies, starting with the South Vietnamese, whose leader, Dr Tuyen, became one of his close friends.
At the same time, he discreetly met with SDECE agents. Whenever the French had to retreat from the battlefield, some officers did not like the fact that the CIA were doing everything they could to throw them out of Vietnam. This rivalry even went so far that some of these soldiers, with the support of the secret services in Paris, even carried out anti-American attacks in Saigon.
An might well have been an occasional agent for the SDECE as he was in a good position to send information from the best sources to the Viet Minh. He gathered very valuable information for Hanoi, such as specific details on the movement of the last French forces, on US military aid, or the location of gasoline stocks. However, following the signing of the Geneva Accords in 1954 and the announced withdrawal of the French Army, his position in TRIM lost its importance. He was consequently assigned to the department of psychological warfare, still within the South Vietnamese Army.
In Hanoi, his bosses were seriously questioning his future. An had already given clear evidence of his skills as a spy, so where would he be the most effective? The issue was discussed during a secret rendezvous with his immediate superior. The young activist certainly had the qualities needed to engage in a political career, but because of the clan battles in South Vietnam, his destiny could well be unstable, if not downright dangerous. If he remained in the army, An could hope to achieve the rank of colonel. Out of the blue, his superior then suggested to An that he become a journalist., as it would provide an excellent cover for his role as a spy. Provided that he could become a leading professional, with entry into the top circles, he could even be considered an equal by his American colleagues.
However, he must first learn his new trade and was told that he had to study journalism in the USA. This meant that he would be among the ‘enemy', as it was at this time that the Americans were becoming increasingly involved in the fight against communism in Vietnam. The young man agreed. Only his father's health would have kept him in the country, but the old man had died before it was time to leave.
An only spent two years in America and had soon spent all of his savings as his bosses had not provided him with enough money. The main reason he decided to return was the receipt of a coded message from his brother telling him about the creation of the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) in South Vietnam. The insurrection could not wait, and neither could An, who wanted to return as quickly as possible to help the cause. However, his hurried return violated the orders of his superiors, and he was apprehensive about coming back.
Curiously, upon his return home his first visit was to the head of intelligence in Saigon, Dr Tuyen. or ‘the Little Doctor', as he was known. He and An had known each other well before the latter's departure for the USA, and he now offered him a job as one of his agents. As the young man had just completed his journalist studies, the ‘Little Doctor' set him up in the official news agency:Vietnam Press. Basically, without knowing it, An would be resuming the same intelligence role he provided for the Viet Minh.
An also renewed his links to the communist parties, but this was difficult as the repression was efficient and ruthless. An's immediate boss had been denounced, but had refused to give up the name of his agent.
As his journalistic work was becoming more and more admired, An was forced to be less diligent towards Dr Tuyen. The British news agency, Reuters, had asked him to become their correspondent and at this time - the beginning of the 1960s - as the US military presence was getting stronger, this new role would take up most of his time.
1965 would see the climax of his journalistic career: he was poached by the prestigious Time magazine and was the only Vietnamese journalist to work for this great publication, even receiving an American salary paid in dollars. He was even allowed to work freelance for other US publications.
Pham Xuan An was now part of the cream of the Saigon press. Comfortably installed in a room at the famous Intercontinental Hotel, he also had a table reserved at the equally famous Givral patisserie, on rue Catinat. Among his western and particularly Anglo-Saxon colleagues, An gradually became a kind of legend. In the small world of foreign correspondents, people would talk about ‘Radio Catinat' when they were referring to information provided by An and his two Vietnamese journalist friends, with whom he would sit every day and enjoy a coffee or an aperitif. In Saigon they were therefore known as the ‘Three Musketeers'.
With his position and his contacts it would have been very easy for An to influence people by spreading false information. Although he refused to do this, he very cleverly never formally denied the rumour that suggested he was a CIA agent, when in fact, he was actually working for the opposite camp. This duality required demanding and exhausting intellectual discipline and it almost a miracle that he was never unmasked. Throughout his spying career, An was extremely cautious: he avoided too many physical meetings with his superiors and worked
