who had not. Collins, however, underestimated the army's support for Diệm and advised him to avoid using brute force and instead seek a compromise. Though Collins discouraged Diệm from executing his plans against Bình Xuyên, the latter, suspicious of a VNA attack, made a move on Diệm loyalists without first seeking America's consent. This resulted in a conflict between the two that temporarily halted with a ceasefire enforced by the French Commissioner-General Paul Ély. Collins went to Washington with the determination that Diệm had to be replaced. U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower honored his decision and U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles penned telegrams to Saigon, informing Bảo Đại and other Vietnamese leaders to find a replacement for Diệm. These plans were halted when a new battle began in Saigon between the VNA and Bình Xuyên. The Diệm loyalists crushed Bình Xuyên, with the latter being saved from total annihilation only with Ély's intervention. Trying to preserve the Bình Xuyên, French Prime Minister Edgar Faure declared Diệm's government incompetent. While Collins was in Washington, Ély spoke with Randolph Kidder, the acting U.S. ambassador, and urged the Americans to join with France to depose Diệm. Kidder did not know what the official U.S. government policy on Diệm was, so he spoke with uncertainty. While Kidder and Ely were arguing, 200 people gathered in the Saigon Town Hall to declare the General Assembly of the Democratic and Revolutionary Forces of the Nation. General Nguyễn Giác Ngộ (1897–1967) of the Hòa Hảo, accompanied by Trình Minh Thế and Nguyễn Thành Phương of the Cao Đại, led the assembly. Its members tore down a large photograph of Bảo Đại, hurled it out the window, and stomped on it in the street before the meeting started, and proceeded to condemn the French and their allies. The assembly then drafted a list of demands that included Bảo Đại's abdication, the removal of all French forces, and the formation of a new government headed by Diệm. They formed a committee to deliver the demands to the government, but when they arrived at the palace, they discovered General Nguyễn Văn Vy in Diệm's office, declaring that he was taking over the army as Bảo Đại had instructed. Vy was taken hostage and compelled to cancel his plans by several members of the committee. After a paratroop colonel threatened Diệm, he let Vy go, and Vy left the next