Khanh Nguyen, general who briefly led Vietnam, dies

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. -- Khanh Nguyen, a South Vietnamese general who briefly gained control of the government in a coup and went on to lead a "government in exile" in California, has died.

Nguyen died Jan. 11 at a San Jose hospital after struggling with diabetes-related health problems, said Chanh Nguyen Huu, who succeeded Nguyen as head of the Garden Grove, Calif.-based Government of Free Vietnam in Exile. He was 86.

In November 1960, Nguyen helped thwart a coup against the U.S.-backed President Ngo Dinh Diem when he mistook the rebels for Viet Cong soldiers and rushed to the president's defense.

Nguyen himself briefly took control of the government in a Jan. 30, 1964, coup, but left Vietnam the following year after being forced out of power by other generals amid growing tension with U.S. military officials. He lived and worked in France for several years before settling in California with his wife and four children in 1977.

-- AP