April 18, 1972

Sec Rogers, Apr 17, defends weekend bombing of Haiphong and Hanoi and warns that Nixon Adm will continue to take 'whatever mil action is necessary' to stop Hanoi's 'massive invasion', Sen Foreign Relations Com; says US will not engage in any negotiations with Communist side while invasion is under way; asked by Sen Percy about prospect for Nixon's visit to USSR in light of the air raids, says plans are going ahead for the visit; says Adm rules out use of nuclear weapons and reintroduction of US ground forces; possible mil steps open to Adm include mining of Haiphong harbor and some kind of blockade; Rogers says current troop withdrawals will meet 69,000 level set for May 1; refuses to say if Nixon will pledge a further cut; asked by Sen Fulbright to justify intensified air raids on N Vietnam, says bombings have goals of protecting 85,000 US troops still in S Vietnam, of making certain the troop withdrawal program can continue and giving S Vietnamese a chance to defend themselves against the invasion; says mil targets in Haiphong area, not the harbor, were objects of attack; Rogers seems to stress that Hanoi is staging a conventional-warfare attack in the South; says Hanoi assertion that its forces are not fighting in South is a lie

The Lindsay administration plans to revive the Civic As sembly, a formal organization of more than 100 civic groups that has been dormant for a decade, to help the city in its dealings with state and local legislative bodies.

2 IRA gunmen are killed on Apr 17 in battle in Belfast that rages from noon to dusk; demonstrators take to streets in worst weekday rioting in many mos; violence is result of shooting of IRA leader McCann on Apr 15 and retaliatory killing of 3 Brit soldiers on Apr 16; more violence is expected at McCann's funeral on Apr 18; terrorists continue hit-and-run attacks on security forces in Londonderry; Brit soldiers spend about 10 hrs dismantling 460-pound bomb in factory in city; IRA provisional wing, which planted bomb, offered to defuse it, but army refused; illus of Belfast battle

Former President Lyndon B. Johnson, recuperating from a second heart attack, suf fered a flurry of extra heart beats yesterday but later was resting comfortably, his doc tor said. Details, Page 9.

illus of women and children wounded in Anloc fighting