Column merge question

Hello,

I have the following problem:

In a MS Word 97 table I need to select several rows and
merge each columns in that selection based on the value of
the first column: "merge the cells by columns vertically,
as long as there is an empty cell in column 1 under a cell
in column 1, that contains some text".

For example, with a table like:

Cell(1,1) A Cell(1,2) B Cell (1,3) C
Cell(2,1) Cell(2,2) D Cell (2,3) E
Cell(3,1) F Cell(3,2) G Cell (3,3) H
Cell(4,1) Cell(4,2) I Cell (4,3) J
Cell(5,1) Cell(5,2) K Cell (5,3) L

Note: Cells (2,1), (4,1) and (5,1) are empty.

must be merged to:
Cell(1,1) A Cell(1,2) B^p Cell (1,3) C^p
D E
Cell(2,1) F Cell(2,2) G^p Cell (2,3) H^p
I^p J^p
K L

Can anybody help me please.

Catalin Florean,
Bucharest, ROMANIA