For the 60th consecutive day, Syrian and Israeli forces battled today along what was once a “ceasefire” line. Four Syrian MIG jets attacked Israeli forces in the 360‐square‐mile salient that Israel has held in Syria since the war last October, according to an Israeli announcement. Later in the day, Israeli planes struck an area of southeast Lebanon under the slopes of Mount Hermon. Israel has charged that the area is used by Syrian artillery spotters and Palestinian guerrilla forces. There were no reports that any aircraft had been shot down.
The Syrians and the Israelis also fired artillery throughout the day. The Syrians occasionally opened up with tank guns and fired salvoes of rockets. The Israelis said that one soldier had been wounded. Syria reported that a civilian woman had been killed by Israeli shelling. Since the Syrians began a limited “war of attrition” in March, the Israelis have reported the death of 31 men and the wounding of 104 by enemy action. Three Israelis have been listed as captured. In addition, 14 men have died in helicopter accidents in the area of the front. This loss of life is increasingly resented in Israel, a small and closely knit community painfully conscious of every casualty.
Secretary of State Kissinger told Israeli officials tonight that he might know by next Tuesday whether he could bring about an agreement by Syria and Israel to separate their troops on the Golan Heights during his current Middle East trip, now in its 13th day. Both United States and Israeli officials said that the pace toward an accord had quickened in the last few days. But they remained uncertain whether Mr. Kissinger would be able to bring the two sides to the compromises needed for disengagement on the Golan Heights.
Mr. Kissinger told his top aides that he hoped to make a major push in the next days to, see whether possibilities really existed for an early agreement. He told the aides, and the Israelis, tonight that he should know by Tuesday, or perhaps Wednesday, whether an agreement was possible. If it is, he plans to try to work it out by the end of next week. If he concludes it does not seem likely, he probably will return to Washington late in the week, perhaps Thursday or Friday. Following an hour and a half meeting between Mr. Kissinger, Premier Golda Meir, and their top assistants, the Israeli spokesman, Shimon Peres, said that Mr. Kissinger was optimistic in his talks with the Israelis.
“If there will be an agreement, it may be a quick one — by the end of the coming week,” the spokesman said. Newsmen aboard Mr. Kissinger’s Air Force Boeing 707 jet, flying to Tel Aviv this afternoon from Cairo, were told that Mr. Kissinger had to be back in Washington by May, 21, because of a busy schedule. The newsmen were again cautioned that while Mr. Kissinger believed he was making progress, he was not yet sure how close he was to an agreement. Nevertheless, after receiving endorsements for his diplomatic efforts yesterday in Saudi Arabia and in Egypt last night and today. Mr. Kissinger was said to believe that the outlook for an agreement was now slightly better than 50‐50. Odds are continually being quoted by officials during this trio, and newsmen were told today that the officials’ odds, were 52 to 48 in favor of an accord.
A breakdown occurred today in the last remaining forum for negotiations between the Việt Cộng and the South Vietnamese Government. The two sides were thus left without regular talks for the first time since the Paris agreement was signed 15 months ago. According to the Saigon military command, the Việt Cộng walked out of this morning’s meeting of the Joint Military Commission and declared in note that they would not appear at future sessions until their diplomatic privileges and immunities were restored. This was apparently a reference to the virtual isolation imposed on the Communist delegation since the Government, la month ago, ended the Việt Cộng’s weekly press conferences, cut off their telephone lines and halted the liaison flights between Saigon and their administrative capital of Lộc Ninh.
About the same time, in the wake of a North Vietnamese take‐over of a South Vietnamese ranger base called Tống Lê Chân, Saigon also suspended the political negotiations with the Việt Cộng that had been taking place in a Paris suburb. Virtually no progress had been made in either the political talks there or the Joint Military Commission meetings here. But the disruption has nevertheless added to the sense of worry in Saigon, strengthening the feeling that the thin fabric woven by the Paris agreement is now unraveling. Under the accords, the two-party Joint Military Commission was assigned a particularly important role: to enforce the cease‐fire, to refer disagreements to the International Commission for Control and Supervision, to delineate areas of military control by the two sides, and to monitor the resupply of weapons and ammunition and the like.
Despite the uproar in the United States caused by publication of the edited Watergate transcripts, the Kremlin has just enthusiastically told the Administration that Moscow is still looking forward to President Nixon’s visit in the second half of June. Privately, some well‐placed Soviet party sources have inquired of Americans whether they think the President can survive until after his scheduled visit here. Moscow is also putting new emphasis on relations with Congress by preparing to send a delegation to Capitol Hill later this month. But the American Embassy reported today that Premier Aleksei N. Kosygin personally told Arthur F. Burns, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, in a Kremlin talk Tuesday that the Soviet leadership was looking forward to meetings with Mr. Nixon in June.
Northern Irish terrorist Brendan Hughes, commanding officer of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA, was arrested in Belfast five months after escaping from Maze Prison. During his time on the run, he had assumed the name “Arthur McAllister” and posed as a traveling salesman.
In Italy, police in Alessandria stormed a prison hospital where 21 hostages had been taken the day before by three armed prisoners. Two of the three inmates, and three of the hostages, were shot to death, and 15 were wounded. After hours of negotiations, police had intervened “when they heard gunfire and shouts” and “believed the prisoners were executing the hostages.”
New political uncertainties have begun to appear in the aftermath of Willy Brandt’s unexpected resignation as Chancellor Monday. The deadline for nominating a presidential candidate, originally set for today, has been postponed until next Tuesday at the request of the Free Democratic Party. This immediately started a rumor that the party’s candidate, Foreign Minister Walter Scheel, might not run after all in the election set for next Wednesday.
France’s presidential contenders, François Mitterrand and Valery Giscard d’Estaing, debated pretty much to a stand‐off tonight in the first live television encounter of a distinctly American‐style election campaign. Mr. Mitterrand, the 57-year-old left‐alliance leader, was placed on the defensive over his plans to name Communist ministers if he is elected. Mr. Giscard d’Estaing, the 48‐year‐old Finance Minister, had to defend a record of soaring prices and “inadequate distribution” of wealth during the years of Gaullism in France.
All six people aboard a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter were killed when the aircraft, operated by KLM Helikopters, crashed into the North Sea while en route to an oil rig. The cause was later traced to metal fatigue in one of five rotor blades. The aircraft was recovered from the North Sea floor. It was sold to Carson Helicopter in the USA and re-registered as N87580.
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi met opposition leaders today and sought to resolve the three‐day‐old nationwide railway strike. At the end of the unusual 90-minute meeting in Mrs. Gandhi’s office, the opposition figures and senior Cabinet officials emerged with a formula that was promptly taken to imprisoned railway union officials. The formula involves the release of the detained leaders, the withdrawal of the strike notice and resumption of talks between the government and trade unions, representing more than one million workers. Within the last few days, the government has refused to release the union leaders until the potentially crippling strike is cut off.
Dominican Republic President Joaquín Balaguer and six other people were able to escape a helicopter crash before the aircraft burst into flames. Balaguer was accompanied by the Caribbean nation’s chief of the armed forces, Rear Admiral Ramon Jimenez, along with General Eligio Bisono Jackson and Major General Santos Melido Marte on a campaign trip, and was returning to Santo Domingo from Puerto Plata in a heavy rainstorm when the main rotor system failed and the aircraft made a hard landing on a hill 27 miles (43 km) from the capital.
The road between the city of Beira and Lourenco Marques, the capital of Mozambique, provides some clues as to why the Portuguese junta has been rebuffed and is facing a spreading war after proposing a cease-fire to the rebellious Mozambique Liberation Front. One of the few main arteries in the country, extending about 2,000 miles north to south, the Lourenco Marques-Beira road connects two prosperous port cities in which the whites live in houses and apartments and most of the blacks in shanties around them. Between the cities, the road passes through 800 miles of human misery and natural beauty.
G. Gordon Liddy, already convicted of crimes in the Watergate scandal, was found guilty of contempt of Congress. Because Liddy was already serving two other sentences, he received a six-month suspended sentence and one year’s probation.
Speculation swept official Washington that President Nixon was on the verge of announcing his resignation, The White House denied it more than once, and lawyers defending the President against the possibility of impeachment dismissed it as “ridiculous.” But each denial appeared to give credence to a new rumor.
President Nixon’s Republican support continued to deteriorate in a capital rife with rumor and absorbed by doubts about the President’s chances of riding out the Watergate crisis. Senator Richard Schweiker, Pennsylvania Republican, called for the President’s resignation. Other old friends and allies were abandoning Mr. Nixon’s defense, and predictions grew more confident that if Mr. Nixon stays in office he will be impeached.
Judge John J. Sirica imposed today a strict gag rule that apparently forbids even President Nixon to comment on the latest developments in the battle between Mr. Nixon and the Watergate prosecution over subpoenaed White House tape recordings. Judge Sirica also placed “under seal” a written report in which the prosecution explains in detail why it wants the subpoenaed material. In another surprise move, the judge indicated that the United States District Court hearing into the subpoenaed tapes, scheduled for 2 PM Monday, might be closed to the public. Judge Sirica outlined these steps this afternoon in a brief statement to reporters. He gave no explanation for the secrecy, and concluded his statement by saying that “no questions by reporters on this subject should be directed to chambers.”
Charles “Bebe” Rebozo, President Nixon’s close friend and confidant, has reportedly told the Senate Watergate committee that he accepted a $50,000 contribution from a Florida grocery executive that he believed was intended for the President’s re-election campaign. Sources close to the committee’s investigation said that Mr. Rebozo’s testimony marked the second time he acknowledged the acceptance of large cash payments on behalf of Mr. Nixon — and the second time the committee staff has developed testimony that reportedly conflicts with Mr. Rebozo’s version of where the money went.
Vice President Ford, expressing full support for President Nixon after they had a one-hour meeting at the White House, added that the President had suggested that Mr. Ford curtail his speaking appearances. The White House meeting was held just before Mr. Ford flew to Buffalo to attend a Building Trades Council luncheon and occurred the day after Mr. Ford talked about Mr. Nixon’s role in “the ‘sorry mess labeled as Watergate.”
A former pilot for Robert Vesco, the fugitive financier, flew Mr. Vesco’s Boeing 707 jet from Panama to Newark Airport and said he had taken the plane without the owner’s “knowledge and consent” at the direction of a New Jersey Superior Court judge. Alwyn Eisenhauer, the pilot, said he had brought the plane to the United States under an arrangement approved by Judge Irwin Kimmelman to help satisfy a lien against Mr. Vesco.
President Nixon announced an emergency program that would provide up to $10.3 billion of additional mortgage money to help stimulate the stagnant private housing market. The administration said that the program would help middle-income families to buy new homes by increasing the supply of mortgage financing.
Leading dairy co-op executives made a hurried attempt to raise $300,000 for President Nixon’s reelection campaign the morning after a 1971 White House meeting on milk price supports, according to secret Senate testimony. D. Paul Alagia, former executive director of Dairymen, Inc., has told Senate Watergate investigators that officers of two other huge dairy co-ops had asked him to put up the money in a predawn meeting at the Louisville airport on March 24, 1971. President Nixon has said he ordered the controversial increase in milk prices supports on March 23, 1971, after two White House meetings on the issue, first with dairy coop leaders and then with ranking Administration advisers.
However, no announcement of the decision was made until March 25, after the White House reportedly had passed word to the dairymen that they were expected to reaffirm a “commitment” of $2 million for Mr. Nixon’s campaign. Members of the Senate Watergate committee were told of Alagia’s testimony at an executive session late Thursday, according to several sources. Staff investigators, one source said, reported that the milk-money investigation had developed “a more spectacular case than anyone thought.”
Howard Hunt Jr., the convicted Watergate conspirator, said today that John W. Dean 3rd’s youth, inexperience, and unfamiliarity with clandestine activities had caused him to incorrectly characterize Mr. Hunt’s request for $120,000 as blackmail money to prevent disclosures of “seamy activities.” In his first extensive statement outside a court or hearing room on the Watergate break‐in, Mr. Hunt said such subsequent financial support for agents involved in clandestine activities was standard operating procedure in all his espionage experience. “As far as I was concerned,” said Mr. Hunt, “it [his request for money] was perfectly routine.” Mr. Hunt‐ made this and other observations during and after videotaping here of “Firing Line,” the television interview program of William F. Buckley Jr., the columnist, who is a close family friend. The program is scheduled to be broadcast Sunday night.
Maurice Nadjari, the special New York state prosecutor, announced the indictments of a former narcotics division detective and a convicted heroin trafficker on charges of conspiring to harbor fugitives and obstruct justice. The indicted men were Frank King, a retired detective, and Vincent Papa, an alleged Mafia member who is in prison. Both men have figured in speculation in the so-called French Connection case.
Dr. Kenneth Riland, a Manhattan osteopath whose patients have included President Nixon, former Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Secretary of State Kissinger and Chief Justice Warren Burger, was acquitted on all five counts of a federal indictment charging him with evading taxes.
Ruchell Magee, San Quentin convict, pleaded guilty today to a charge of aggravated kidnaping stemming from the Marin County courthouse raid in August, 1970, in which judge and three abductors were killed. The guilty plea was accepted by Superior Court Judge William A. Ingram after the judge insisted Mr. Magee consult with a court‐appointed lawyer. The maximum sentence under the charge is life imprisonment. Mr. Magee was tried in San Francisco in 1973 by a jury that disagreed on charges of murder and aggravated kidnapping. The jury split 11‐to‐1 for acquittal of murder and 11‐to for conviction of aggravated kidnapping. His second trial was transferred to Santa Clara County on a charge of venue.
Officer Michael Lee Edwards of the Los Angeles Police Department was last seen alive leaving the police academy. His handcuffed body, shot execution-style, was found the next day in an abandoned building. Edwards’ murder has never been solved.
A rear end collision between two trains on the Chicago Transit Authority elevated railway injured 222 people but caused no reported deaths.
The Americans spacecraft Mariner 10 has been aimed successfully for a revisit to the planet Mercury Sept. 21, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, announced yesterday. Two course corrections by rocket firings Thursday and yesterday “went off as planned and we’re on our way,” said Frank E. Bristow, a spokesman for the laboratory, which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The maneuvers were designed to reduce the scientific craft’s “miss distance” of Mercury from several hundred thousand miles to the distance of 29,500 miles. This is deemed optimum for photographing the planet from a different angle than was possible during the craft’s first pass by Mercury on March 29.
7th ABA championship: The New York Nets beat the Utah Stars, 4 games to 1.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 850.44 (-15.33, -1.77%).
Born:
Grant Williams, NFL tackle (NFL Champions, Super Bowl 36-Patriots, 2001; Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, St. Louis Rams), in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Bob Smith, MLB third baseman and second baseman (Tampa Bay Devil Rays), in Oakland, California.
Died:
Hal Mohr, A.S.C., 79, American cinematographer known for The Jazz Singer and Phantom of the Opera.
James Muilenburg, 77, American Biblical scholar who worked on the New Revised Version of the Old Testament.
Takeshi Sakamoto, 74, Japanese actor in more than 300 films between 1925 and 1965.
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