May 3, 1973

Pres Nixon, commenting on Phase 3 of wage-price program, on May 2 argues against freeze on food prices urged by some Congressmen; claims a freeze would create more problems for 'avg Amer than it would solve'

INVESTIGATORS TERM C.O.P. SPYING A WIDESPREAD ATTEMPT TO INSURE WEAK DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE IN 1972

US Atty W N Seymour Jr strongly suggests before US Appeals Ct on May 2 that record shows that Repr Biaggi refused to answer questions before Fed grand jury 18 mos ago; declares that 'we know what happened before grand jury' and asserts that Biaggi's motion for panel of judges to say only whether he had invoked Fifth Amendment on his personal finances was attempt to put ct in position of 'vouching for something which was, at best, a half truth'; Seymour's statements are made during Biaggi appeal of rulings by Fed Judge E L Palmieri calling for release of his testimony before grand jury with names of other persons mentioned in minutes deleted; Appeals Ct reserves decision; Biaggi repeatedly declines during May 2 news conf to say whether he had answered all questions before jury; concedes that his mayoral candidacy has been 'jeopardized' by disclosures relating to his grand jury appearances; Biaggi's motion for full disclosure comes as surprise in view of his previous statements that his main reservation for not having minutes released was desire to protect other persons mentioned in testimony; asserts at news conf that his reversal of tactics is 'question of survival'; declares that despite his difficulties 'nothing whatever' will prevent him from continuing in mayoral race; M Gould, atty for Controller Beame, one of Biaggi's rivals for Dem nomination, contends that underlying issue in battle for release of grand jury minutes is whether Biaggi is fit to be Mayor of NYC; Appeals Ct Chief Judge Friendly asks Seymour if he has investigated how NY Times got its information about Biaggi's refusal to answer questions; Seymour replies that he is convinced that information did not come from anyone in his office because some of details in Times article were inaccurate; Biaggi releases net worth statement and 1st page of his income tax returns for '69, '70 and '71; statement shows that he and his wife have assets of $186,824 and liabilities of $135,000; Biaggi illus

Heavy fighting erupts on May 2 between Lebanese Army and Palestinian guerrillas in Beirut, Lebanon; Lebanese Defense Min says that 12 soldiers were killed and 40 wounded; there is heavy firing by army forces, including tanks, into populous Shatila refugee camp; Palestinian press agency, in broadcast from Syria, says 19 persons were killed and 89 wounded in camps; curfew goes into effect at 7:30 PM and shooting subsides; Palestinian guerrilla movement broadcast over Cairo radio announces that cease-fire was in effect at 7:00 PM; heavy firing begins again on May 3 on north side of Beirut; boom of artillery begins at 5 AM and continues for 2 hrs; army spokesman says fighting broke out when guerrillas attacked army forces that set up roadblocks to control movement in and out of Shatila camp after 2 Lebanese noncommissioned officers were kidnapped on May 1; 2 army men were reptdly being held as hostages for release of Palestinian guerrillas arrested by security forces, including 3 who were charged with placing explosive device, which did not go off, at Beirut Internat! Airport; 2 kidnapped soldiers and another soldier who was taken prisoner during fighting were reptdly handed over by guerrillas on May 2 to K Jumblatt, left-wing Deputy who heads movement that supports Palestinian resistance; Jumblatt took 3 men to army hq; this removed immediate cause of conflict but with heavy casualties suffered by army it is believed that crisis over relations with guerrillas will continue; crisis came after 2 wks of tension brought on by Israeli commando raid in Beirut on Apr 10 in which 3 Palestinian guerrilla leaders were killed in their homes; security measures to control Palestinian extremists have been tightened since Palestinian guerrilla leader Y Arafat announced that 'big vengeance' would be sought for Israeli attack, including retaliation against US interests in Middle East; fighting is initially confined to area around camps but later dynamite bombs are thrown from cars as they speed through central shopping dist and near Amer Univ; bombs go off in front of homes of Jumblatt and former Premier S Salam; 4 or 5 rockets explode near residence of US Amb W B Buffum, who went to US recently on leave; 1 civilian is reptd killed in front of offices of Palestine Liberation Orgn; curfew is put into effect until further notice; Defense Min says persons carrying arms who do not heed army orders to surrender their weapons will be 'shot on the spot'; Arab diplomatic source says that several hrs after fighting began, Arafat established contact with Lebanese Army commander Gen I Ghanem on cease-fire; it is not clear whether Arafat is in full control of various guerrilla orgns; kidnapping of 2 army men was reptdly carried out by Popular Dem Front for the Liberation of Palestine, small group that is often in disput with Al Fatah, largest Palestinian group which Arafat heads; Cairo radio broadcasts statement of Palestine Liberation Orgn's exec com, headed by Arafat, which accuses Lebanese Army of 'escalation of hostilities against Palestinian commandos'; map

NJ State Trooper W Foerster and Black Panther information min J F Coston are killed and Black Liberation Army leader J D Chesimard is wounded and captured on May 2 in shoot-out and chase on NJ Turnpike near New Brunswick; Trooper J M Harper is also wounded; incident began when Trooper Harper stopped car of Chesimard, Coston and another man for routine traffic check; Chesimard is wanted by FBI for armed bank robbery and by NYC Police in connection with Jan '72 slayings of Ptl R Laurie and G Foster, and hand-grenade attack on police car in Dec '71; was apparently being taken to new hideout in Philadelphia; 2d male suspect escapes following chase; man described; is target of manhunt involving 400 men, state police helicopters and bloodhounds; police find list of potential targets for black militant group in suspects' car; car illus; Foerster por