June 29, 1974

June 29: US State Dept says on June 28 that it has been informed that 8 Black September guerrillas who were convicted by Sudanese ct of killing US Amb Cleo A Noel Jr, US charge d'affaires George C Moore and Belgian charge d'affaires Guy Eid in Saudi Embassy in Khartoum on Mar 2, '73, are now in prison in Egypt; State Dept spokesman Robert Anderson refuses to provide additional details on fate of 8, whose virtual release by Sudanese Pres Nimeiry on June 24 touched off strong US protest; Nimeiry commuted their sentence to 7 yrs and let 8 fly to Egypt to serve their sentence in custody of Palestine Liberation Orgn; US Amb Hermann F Eilts raised matter with Egyptian Foreign Min Ismail Fahmy on June 25, expressing US view that 8 not be allowed to go free; Fahmy reptdly said men were in prison as part of arrangement between Nimeiry and Egyptian Pres Sadat; State Dept is cautious in discussing matter with Egypt because Egyptians have to consider reaction of both Arab world and US in deciding what to do; Eilts reptdly told Egyptians that US Cong might reject various aid requests for Egypt made by Nixon Adm if Egypt even appears to give men safe haven (M)

article on labor's demand for huge wage increase in wake of lifting of Fed wage-price controls holds strikes have increased as result of inability to reach accords; notes that number of strikes across nation increased to more than 500 in May and June compared to 250 to 300 earlier (S)

Henry H Jones, 1 of 4 attys for John D Ehrlichman standing trial in White House plumbers case, on June 28 offers new defense accusing David R Young of falsifying statments and documents against Ehrlichman 'in order to save his own neck'; in opening statement relies heavily on previously known contention by Ehrlichman that while he approved 'covert' operation to obtain Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatric records, 'at no time did he consider what he had authorized to be an illegal act'; Watergate prosecuting team head William H Merrill attacks Jones's thesis and says that testimony and documents will be presented to show that entry into office of Ellsberg's former psychiatrist Dr Lewis J Fielding was 'willful, arrogant act of men who took the law in their own hands because they felt they were above the law'; makes clear that basic target of prosecution is Ehrlichman, cites meeting in early Aug, '71, between Ehrlichman, Young and Egil Krogh at which Young and Krogh talked to Ehrlichman in terms of mission's 'being covert so no one would ever know who did it'; says Ehrlichman a few days later approved operation if 'it is not traceable'; repts that nearly 2 yrs later in late March of '73 Ehrlichman phoned Young and asked him to bring in Ellsberg break-in files; says unbeknown to Ehrlichman, Young had photocopied whole file before taking it to Ehrlichman's office; says some time later Young decided to give those files prosecution in return for immunity; illus of Ehrlichman and wife and Fielding (L)

 

Pres and Mrs Nixon are guests of honor at Bolshoi Theater, with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, Premier Aleksei Kosygin and Pres Nikolai Podgorny; leading Soviet ballerina Maya Plisetskaya and Nadezhda Pavlova perform (S)