The back-and-forth expulsions of diplomats by the United States and the Soviet Union have evoked considerable hostile commentary in the Western European press. Many commentators have voiced concern that the actions might derail recent disarmament efforts. But there has been little perceptible reaction from European governments used to this kind of exchange. The campaign of withdrawals has been front-page news in European newspapers, which described it mockingly as a dangerous game of diplomatic Ping-Pong in which disarmament would be the loser.
The dispute between President Reagan and Mikhail S. Gorbachev over what was said at Reykjavik has raised new questions about how astutely President Reagan and his advisers conducted the negotiations and how they have characterized them to the public. The dispute could affect the President’s ability to continue dealing credibly with Moscow on arms control and damage his reputation as a political leader at home. The immediate issue is what he led the Soviet officials there to believe he might agree to: Was it simply the elimination of all intercontinental ballistic missiles, as he and other top Administration officials now say, or did he go further and accept Mr. Gorbachev’s proposal to eliminate all strategic nuclear arms, as the Soviet leader and several Administration officials maintain? If Mr. Reagan did agree to the concept of eliminating all long-range nuclear weapons, but denies it, he risks undercutting his credibility in future arms talks with Moscow. But if he admits it, he runs afoul of most of his own Administration’s military advice and faces charges of vacillation and incompetence. These are precisely the accusations he used to make, and made again today, about President Carter’s handling of Soviet-American relations.
The United States will begin sending American mechanics, electricians, plumbers, cooks, movers and interpreters to Moscow and Leningrad to keep the embassy and the consulate functioning, State Department officials said today. If necessary, Washington is prepared to reduce the number of diplomats and other white-collar workers at its missions in the Soviet Union to stay within the ceiling of 251 set this week, officials said. As a result of reciprocal expulsions ordered by Washington and Moscow in recent days, American diplomats in the Soviet Union suddenly lost their 260-member Soviet support staff, who were regarded as virtually indispensable. The expulsions have evoked considerable hostile commentary in the Western European press, with many commentators voicing concern that the actions might derail recent disarmament efforts. But there has been little perceptible reaction from European governments. To replace the Soviet personnel who have been withdrawn, particularly with the onset of winter adding to the hardships of living in the Soviet Union, the Administration plans to shift State Department and military employees and hire new workers, officials said.
A Jordanian was convicted today of trying to blow up an Israeli airliner and sentenced to 45 years in prison. A jury in Old Bailey court found that the 32-year-old Jordanian, Nezar Hindawi, had exploited his lover, a pregnant Irish chambermaid, so she would head for Israel, alone and unknowing, with a hidden luggage bomb. The prosecution charged that Syrian intelligence agents, acting through the embassy, had supplied the bomb to Mr. Hindawi and directed the plot, even to suggesting that an unwitting woman be chosen as the courier who would be destroyed with the plane as it flew across Europe. Proclaiming his innocence, Mr. Hindawi silently raised his hand in a V-for-victory hand signal as he was led from the dock after being sentenced to 45 years in prison, the most severe sentence in recent times at Old Bailey. Lawyers said that technically it offered less chance of parole than a life sentence.
The British Government broke off relations with Syria today, charging that there was “conclusive evidence” that Syrian diplomats and intelligence agents were involved in the attempt to bomb an Israeli airliner in April. The announcement came soon after a jury here convicted a Jordanian in the bombing plot and sentenced him to 45 years in prison. The Jordanian, Nezar Hindawi, raised his hand in a V-for-victory sign as he was led away after being told by the judge, “A more horrendous massacre it is difficult to imagine.” Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Foreign Secretary, said today in Parliament that evidence gathered at the trial showed the “plain involvement” of Syrian intelligence agents in the bomb plot. The bomb, placed in the carry-on luggage of the Jordanian’s unsuspecting Irish friend, was discovered by security personnel of El Al Israel Airlines as she waited to board the plane. The Syrian Ambassador was summoned by incensed officials of the Thatcher Government, who charged that the envoy himself was involved in the plot to destroy the El Al airliner and its 375 passengers. The Ambassador, Loutof Allah Haydar, was ordered to shut the embassy and remove its 21 personnel from the country within two weeks. He denounced the charge as “nonsense” and an Israeli-American plot.
In response, Syria ended relations with Britain and closed its ports to British aircraft and ships. Syria said today that it was breaking off diplomatic relations with Britain and closing its airports and ports to British aircraft and ships. An official spokesman made the announcement only hours after the British Government declared it was severing ties with Damascus because a jury in London had convicted a Syrian-linked Arab of trying to blow up an Israeli jumbo jet by using his lover to carry on a bag with explosives. The spokesman, who was quoted by the state radio monitored here, said British diplomats in Damascus were given one week to shut down their embassy and the cultural center known as the British Council and leave the country. This is half the period given to Syrian diplomats to close their embassy in London.
The United States will withdraw its Ambassador from Syria as a show of support for Britain’s decision to break relations with Damascus, the White House announced today. In Ottawa today, Joe Clark, the Minister for External Affairs, announced that the Canadian Ambassador to Syria, Jacques Noiseux, was also being withdrawn. “Canada fully supports the action taken by Britain today,” Mr. Clark said in Parliament. The decision by the Reagan Administration to withdraw its Ambassador, William L. Eagleton Jr., was conveyed to the Syrian charge d’affaires here by Secretary of State George P. Shultz this morning.
An increasing number of Western and Middle Eastern intelligence analysts say they believe that of all the countries of the Middle East, none use terrorism more effectively as an adjunct to diplomacy than Syria. These sources offer long lists of examples of how the Government of President Hafez al-Assad has used violence to influence events in Lebanon and to strike at Israel. They also say Syria has not shrunk from turning to terrorism to eliminate its Arab enemies abroad and to try to dominate the Palestinian movement. Their comments were made in interviews with correspondents of The New York Times in the United States, the Middle East and Europe. The trial of Nezar Hindawi, a 32-year-old Jordanian convicted in London yesterday of trying to blow up an El Al Israel Airlines plane in April, was cited as an unusual case study of how Syria uses terrorism as part of its foreign policy.
Palestinian guerrillas and Shiite militiamen fought pitched battles in southern Lebanon for a second day today. The police said 16 people were killed and 29 wounded in the last 24 hours. The clashes raged mainly around a Palestinian district, Rashidiye, south of the port of Tyre, but the violence also spread north to Sidon, another harbor on the Mediterranean. Reports from the area obtained by telephone said Amal, the mainstream Shiite militia, had moved reinforcements around Rashidiye and two neighboring Palestinian sectors. Violence between the rival groups in Tyre has been continuing on and off since the beginning of this month. It increased Thursday after guerrillas attacking by sea killed five Amal militiamen and wounded four others at a post not far from Rashidiye.
Tales of corruption in Mexico are legion among Mexican citizens, virtually all of whom say they have paid bribes for such things as avoiding a traffic ticket or speeding service in a government matter. The “mordida” — the “bite” — is an integral part of Mexican life. Virtually every adult Mexican has paid a bribe to avoid a traffic ticket, to obtain a needed Government document, to speed service in a Government matter. There is evidence that the Government’s efforts to rid Mexico of such low-level graft — a campaign of “moral renovation” promised by President Miguel de la Madrid when he took office in 1982 — are achieving some results. But corruption involving Government officials continues to surface, and because much of it now involves illegal drug trafficking to the United States, the issue has been a growing irritant in Mexican-American relations. “Drugs have had a devastating impact on Mexican law enforcement,” said Samuel I. del Villar, a former official in the anti-corruption campaign who is now a professor at the Colegio de Mexico here.
Salvadoran guerrillas killed five militiamen and a civilian in their first attack since they called off a truce this week, military officials said today. The guerrillas called a cease-fire hours after an earthquake hit the capital October 10. The rebels called off the truce on Tuesday. A spokesman for the National Guard said the rebels attacked the militiamen Thursday night in Santa Elena, 55 miles southeast of San Salvador.
A Nicaraguan rebel group diverted $15,000 in United States funds intended for nonlethal aid to buy ammunition earlier this year, Congressional and Administration officials say. A State Department official said today that the department learned of the diversion in June and forced the rebels to return the money. The discovery, included in a draft report by the General Accounting Office, is the first conclusive evidence that some of the $27 million in nonlethal aid for the Contras went for lethal assistance, according to three American officials who spoke Thursday on condition that they not be identified. The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, reported last spring that it could not track more than half the $27 million in nonlethal aid, with much of it disappearing into offshore bank accounts, into the Honduran military or staying in the United States.
A high school financed by American companies to help South African blacks enter the business world has closed because of anti-apartheid boycotts, an American spokesman said today. The spokesman, Kenneth Mason, said he hoped to negotiate with parents, students and community leaders on a future for the school that would allow it to reorganize and reopen at the start of the new school year in January. The school, Planned Advancement for Commercial Education, was built in 1982 in Soweto, Johannesburg’s huge black satellite. Mr. Mason said the school fell victim to boycotts of black schools enforced by “comrades,” a term used to describe young anti-apartheid militants.
President Reagan’s handling of the arms talks in Iceland and his strong support for a defense against missiles have cooled a feud among conservatives over the direction of their movement and the strategy that Republicans are pursuing in this year’s elections. While Democrats dispute how much of an impact the President’s handling of the arms issue will have on the Congressional races this year, and insist the economy will predominate, relieved Republican conservatives contend that Mr. Reagan’s strong stand has united their ranks and given them a powerful election issue. “The arguments are a healthy sign for a movement growing into a new majority,” said Representative Newt Gingrich, a conservative strategist involved in a tough campaign for re-election here. “But a lot of conservatives who were worried about the campaign are now reassured.”
President Reagan speaks at a political rally in Oklahoma for Senator Nicols.
Nearly six years after he defeated Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan once more campaigned against his predecessor today. On a swing to Oklahoma and Florida for Republican incumbents in the Senate, Mr. Reagan denounced the “lighter-than-air liberalism,” and “the mess” that he said marked the 1970’s under Mr. Carter. Appearing in the Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida, campaigning for the re-election of Senator Paula Hawkins, who faces a strong Democratic challenger, Governor Bob Graham, Mr. Reagan drew laughs when he said: “If you liked Jimmy Carter as President, you’ll love Bob Graham as Senator.” It was one of the rare recent times that Mr. Reagan has spoken derisively about his Democratic predecessor, and it marked an obvious effort to stir memories of the Carter Presidency to blunt criticisms of Mr. Reagan’s own programs.
The State Department acknowledged today that a 12-year veteran of the department was a suspect in the Reagan Administration’s criminal investigation of unauthorized disclosures about a Government “disinformation” program. Administration officials identified the suspect as Elaine Morton, who until this week was a director of the National Security Council’s office of Near East and South Asian Affairs. Law enforcement and other officials said she was transferred back to the State Department at her request after refusing to take a polygraph, or lie detector, examination sought by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A Federal judge today released a memorandum in which a Republican official said the party’s program to pare the voting rolls in the name of “ballot integrity” “could keep the black vote down considerably” in a Louisiana Senate primary. The memorandum, prepared by Kris Wolfe, a Middle Western regional director for the Republican National Committee, was sent to Lanny Griffith, the committee’s regional director for the South. It was obtained by the Democratic National Committee in a $10 million lawsuit against the Republican committee over the “ballot integrity” program. Republicans contended that the purpose of the program was to prevent voter fraud, and not to lower the number of black voters. They say the reference to a reduction in the black vote referred only to a possible effect of the program in the Louisiana election and not to its goal. Democrats, however, have charged that the purpose was to “harass, intimidate and improperly challenge” black voters.
Alabama’s gubernatorial race could make political history. An Amway home products distributor, Guy Hunt, is given an even chance of becoming Alabama’s first Republican Governor since Reconstruction. “I voted Democratic in the June primary, but after all the mud-slinging by the Democrats I’m with Mr. Hunt now,” said Charlotte Walker of nearby Tuscaloosa, who, with her husband, Johnny, shook Mr. Hunt’s hand and promised to do what they could for him before the election November 4. “What the Democrats have done has been horrible — an embarrassment to Alabama,” Mrs. Walker said. If the Walkers and a lot of other voters like them turn out in large enough numbers next month, they will not only elect a virtually unknown Republican to succeed Governor George C. Wallace, who is retiring; they will also make political history and send the state Democratic Party a powerful message.
Hundreds of families rejoiced after the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld a 1984 law that orders the return of land taken from their relatives 60 years ago by a state government decree. Sixty years ago, when Adeline Pinkins was a teen-ager, a stranger went to her family’s house and told her father they had to leave. “Move where?” her father asked, according to Mrs. Pinkins. “Where am I going with my family?” “Well, you’re going to have to go,” the stranger said, Mrs. Pinkins related, “because we’re going to make a spillway here and you can’t live under water.” “I’ll never forget it,” Mrs. Pinkins, who is 79 years old, said today, smiling on her front porch, after the Louisiana Supreme Court handed down a decision upholding a 1984 state law that orders the return of the land. Mrs. Pinkins’s parents received $700 for two acres.
A prosecutor said today that he would not pursue indictments against Governor Edwin W. Edwards in connection with an reported bribery scheme. District Attorney Bryan Bush asked Governor Edwards to testify before a grand jury last week in connection with an investigation of the state pardon board. Mr. Bush’s request came after the Governor said he had sent an aide to tell Howard Marsellus, chairman of the pardon board, that he was concerned about persistent rumors of wrongdoing involving the panel. Mr. Bush had suggested the Governor’s message might constitute an obstruction of justice since Governor Edwards knew that the state police were investigating Mr. Marsellus. Mr. Marsellus was indicted last month along with State Representative Joe Delpit for on charges of taking bribes from an undercover agent purporting to seek a pardon.
In Florence, Arizona, at least one prisoner was killed and eight injured today when about 200 blacks and whites attacked one another with steel pipes and wooden clubs at Arizona’s oldest prison, the authorities said. The fight started after a black inmate was stabbed, possibly in retaliation for the slaying of a white prisoner Thursday, the authorities said. Another black prisoner was killed today and at least three other inmates were critically injured in the fight, which began at 7:45 A.M. in the south unit of the Arizona State Prison, prison officials said.
The Strategic Air Command has ordered its bomber crews to prepare for making attacks with conventional explosives as well as with nuclear bombs, according to Gen. John T. Chain Jr., SAC’s new commander. General Chain said in an interview that the new assignment was intended to make fuller use of the “huge latent capabilities” of the bomber force and to give the President, Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff more flexibility in military operations. Under the concept, he said, operations anywhere in the world could be supported by B-52 bombers, which were workhorses of the war in Vietnam; by B-1 bombers, which are just coming into the force, and by the advanced-technology Stealth bomber of the 1990’s. General Chain said the long-range bombers would continue to be based in the United States and would not need foreign bases. The United States would thus not require the permission of a foreign government to mount a bombing strike.
In the first Federal court decision on a subject of growing concern, a small group of fundamentalist Christian parents today won a ruling that shelters their children from the godless influences they detect in certain public school textbooks. The books at issue in the case in East Tennessee are part of a basic reading series published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston and approved by the state. But since they offend the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs, and since the evidence of the recent trial showed that any other books on the state list would probably offend them, too, Federal District Judge Thomas Hull ruled in Greeneville, Tennessee, that a reasonable solution would be to let the children sit out the class and learn to read at home. Grounding his decision in the First Amendment’s guarantee of the free exercise of religion, Judge Hull said the students, who were suspended for refusing to read the assigned texts, could not be forcibly exposed to material violating their religious beliefs when the Tennessee schools could fulfill their objectives without making students read a particular set of books. He found nothing wrong with the books themselves, which the publisher says are used in 15,000 school districts around the country, and he did not order their removal from the curriculum.
The Department of Agriculture today announced the largest program in history for paying farmers not to grow corn, sorghum, barley and oats. It offered up to $2 a bushel for not growing the feed grains, and economists said it could idle more than 10 million acres of land next year. The program was announced less than two weeks before the elections, in which a number of key Senate and House seats from the Middle West and other states with large agricultural industries will be filled. It was attacked by Democratic leaders as a political maneuver.
A panel appointed by the National Academy of Sciences began an investigation today into allegations of sabotage and mismanagement in the AIDS laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The investigation was prompted by Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr., Republican of Connecticut, who heads the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that passes on funds for the centers. The Senator had become concerned about allegations quoted in the press that disgruntled workers were sabotaging experiments, that a research paper had been suppressed and that unhappy scientists were leaving the research program on acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS.
A Federal appeals court has upheld a ban on mining in Alaska’s national parks until the Government can assess potential damage to land and water. The ruling Thursday by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit bars mining in three parks, with narrow exceptions, until the National Park Service prepares a report on the environmental impact of mining, which could take several years.
The Texas Air Corporation won final approval today from the Transportation Department to acquire the financially troubled People Express Inc. and most of the assets of its bankrupt subsidiary, Frontier Airlines. The agency attached no conditions to its approval, noting that the merger “would not substantially reduce competition” in any market, despite the fact that after the combination Texas Air units would account for about 20 percent of scheduled airline service, Texas Air’s offer to buy People Express for $125 million still hinges upon agreement by six groups of holders of People Express debt. They must agree to lower the interest rate on their loans by $12.6 million annually and, in the case of two groups, extend the payout period.
A House subcommittee made public today a report showing that Federal agencies conducted radiation exposure experiments on people for 30 years. The experiments took place nationwide starting in the mid-1940’s and did not end until the 1970’s, according to the report issued by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy Conservation and Power. The report said experiments by the Federal Government involved hundreds of people. Some were willing subjects, but for others there is no record of informed consent, according to the report. Representative Edward J. Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the subcommittee, has urged the Government to try to find out what happened to the people tested.
The Federal Trade Commission today issued regulations requiring specific health warnings on packages of snuff and chewing tobacco starting early next year. The warnings, similar to those already required on cigarette packages, were developed in response to Congressional action earlier this year. The rules cover all smokeless tobacco, a product that has drawn considerable attention and criticism in recent years. The National Institutes of Health have warned that the use of smokeless tobacco, which is either chewed or held between the cheek and gum, can lead to an increased risk of mouth and throat cancer.
Mark S. Fowler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, predicted today that most long-distance telephone rates would fall by about 5 percent, or $900 million, in January, reflecting reduced costs for the use of local exchange-carrier equipment for call completion. Rate reductions are expected to be proposed in November by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company based on recent filings by local telephone companies proposing to lower their charges to A.T.&T., the nation’s principal provider of long-distance service A.T.&T. is the only long-distance company regulated by the F.C.C. and its rate changes must be approved by the regulatory agency.
Major League Baseball:
Bill Russell, 38, announces his retirement. He was the last member of the Dodgers Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey infield and is 2nd on the club’s all-time games-played list with 2,183.
Stock prices declined a little yesterday on Wall Street as most investors, with the exception of those chasing potential takeovers, rested after Thursday’s large gain. Companies that are, or could become, involved in buyouts once again dominated the active list. The Dow Jones industrial average, despite a strong rise in the price of Goodyear, lost 2.67 points, to 1,832.26. The blue-chip average gained 26 points on Thursday, but still ended the week with a 4.78-point deficit. Stocks gained on Thursday mainly because economic data released by the Government suggested that business conditions might be improving. Those numbers, however, proved powerful for only one session, and Wall Street became indifferent once again yesterday, with the exception of takeovers.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1832.26 (-2.67)
Born:
Drake, Canadian actor and rapper (Hotline Bling), born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Kion Wilson, NFL linebacker (San Diego Chargers, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers), in Miami, Florida.
