February 17, 1975

Conservative Pol Action Conf, sponsored by Young Amers for Freedom and Amer Conservative Union, ends 4‐day conf, Washington, DC; establishes 13‐member group called the Com on Conservative Alternatives; Sen J L Buckley introduces ex‐Gov Ronald Reagan as ‘Rembrandt of Amer conservatism’ (M)

Arabian Sultanate of Oman is finding itself short of funds, situation which is embarrassing for Govt of Sultan Qabus bin Said since nation has been receiving oil revenues at rate of almost $1‐billion annually and has fewer than $1‐million inhabitants; public statements have not been forthcoming from Govt nor Sultan Qabus, absolute monarch who serves as his own Finance Min, but highly placed supporters of Govt acknowledge that Oman is overdrawn at 1 bank by several million dollars, is having cash flow problem and has been warned by bankers that further credit may be withheld unless it mends its free‐spending ways; critics of Govt assert in private that situation is urgent; problem is exacerbated by uncertain state of world oil mkt, Oman's strategic position at mouth of Persian Gulf and because of reputation for extravagance that various Arab aristocrats have earned in past; Qabus reptdly has no weaknesses more unseemly than a passion for collecting phonograph records, but has at times been spectacularly generous since he seized power in ′70 from arch‐conservative father, Sultan Said bin Taimur; has embarked on vast construction program, ranging from scores of new schools and other public bldgs, to huge multicolored palace that has been rising over Muscat waterfront; has been spending funds on police and 12,000‐man armed forces at rate reptdly of $500‐million annually; critics charge too much is being spent on mil establishment that currently is fighting nothing more than band of several hundred Marxist‐led rebels near southern frontier; Sultan's supporters, including former mil commander Maj Gen T M Creasy, contend that Oman needs arsenal of modern weapons to cope with many eventualities, and that high outlays can be credited with Oman's recent successes in curbing revolt; say bankers have been visiting Oman in recent days, to suggest means for controlling spending and to work on econ plans for remainder of decade, at Sultan's invitation; say ′74 oil revenues were between $900‐million and $1‐billion, not including amount, said to be less than $10%, that Sultan took for himself; Govt expenditures were trifle less, leaving surplus for yr of less than $30‐million; ‘75 expenditures are expected to range between $1.2‐billion and $1.3‐billion, and oil revenues are expected to be $1.2‐billion, assuming that Oman's oil production and world oil prices are not reduced; current softness on oil mkt has made some Omani planners fearful that one or both may occur; nation currently has $200‐million in reserves, half of which is in gold, SDRs, dollars and other foreign currencies; remaining half is invested in fairly safe securities, including bonds guaranteed by Ger Govt; Oman also has between $50‐million and $100‐million in short‐term debts; Govt also has availed itself fully of its overdrawing privileges at Brit Bank of the Middle East to amount of $5‐million worth of Omani currency; Sultan Said illus (L)

Reporter's Notebook: comments on experiences of newsmen accompanying Sec Kissinger on his 5‐day trip through Middle East (L)

Ford Adm gives approval for Iranian Govt to invest approximately $300‐million in financially‐troubled Pan Amer, under agreement that would give Iran 13% interest in airline; sr officials of CAB, which must approve agreement, foresee no serious obstacle to its approval because of financial crisis facing carrier; agreement will establish largest stake of Middle Eastern capital in major Amer co since oil‐producing nations began amassing huge dollar surpluses; will enable Pan Amer to survive through ′75 and will give it enough time for reorganization, after losses of $256‐million since ′69, and possibly to merge with another airline; Pan Amer execs are optimistic Iranian aid will strengthen their hand in merger talks with Amer, TWA and Eastern Air Lines and stave off possible attempts by other US carriers to obtain some of Pan Amer's more profitable routes; joint announcement by US and Iran notes ‘Govt of Iran has no interest in controlling the mgt of the operations of Pan Amer’ notes agreement will satisfy requirements of Defense Dept, which uses US carriers as standby mil aircraft; agreement stipulates that Iran: will purchase controlling interest in Pan Amer's chain of more than 60 Intercontinental Hotels for estimated $55‐million, will provide airline with direct loans of approximately $245‐million, will be given option to purchase 6‐million shares of Pan Amer common stock at 15% above mkt price day option is exercised, will be entitled to designate 1 of airline's 17 dirs, with provision made for increasing total to 20; sources close to negotiations indicate Pan Amer will use large part of Iranian loan to satisfy ins cos to which it owes total of $380‐million; causes of Pan Amer's financial problems revd (L)

NYS labor officials are predicting that cases of suspected cheating on unemployment ins may rise 25 to 50% in ′75 as number of laid‐off workers continues to mount; Labor Dept investigation dir Louis Sitkin repts allegations of fraud have been increasing since last fall as recession worsens; his unit in ′74 carried out 20,654 investigations—every complaint is investigated—and discovered 9,393 overpayments totaling $4,345,308; Sitkin anticipates that suspected fraud cases in ′75 may rise to 25,000 to 30,000; recession has doubled number of unemployment ins claimants statewide in last yr—680,000 persons during wk ended Feb 1, compared with 333,000 for wk ended Feb 2, ‘74; estimates are that payments may approximate $1‐billion in ′75 as result of upsurge, far surpassing ′74 record of $820‐million; Indus Comr Louis L Levine notes that state's Unemployment Ins Fund, with nearly $1.3‐billion on hand at end of Dec, is ‘very solvent’ (S)

Sen Subcom on Constitutional Rights and Sen Subcom on Administrative Practice and Procedure issue rept citing former Atty Gen Elliot L Richardson's testimony last yr that ha believed FBI had wiretapped at least 1 Cong member and possibly 2 Cong aides before Nixon yrs; testimony is cited in subcoms' rept in their call for stronger Cong control of electronic surveillance; Richardson said he learned of reptd incidents when White House asked him in early ′73 to find out whether previous Adms had become involved in wiretapping and bugging of Congressmen; says survey conducted by FBI at Richardson's request apparently confirmed earlier incidents; Richardsons's testimony marks 1st time a Justice Dept official has said under oath that he believed a Congressman had been tapped; recommendations in subcoms’ rept noted (M)

Off‐duty NYC policewoman Arlene M Egan wrestles with and disarms man with gun outside Floral Park, LI, bar on Feb 16; suspect, who allegedly had trouble in bar earlier in evening, identified as Ronald A Wright; he is charged with illegal weapon possession and resisting arrest and treated for broken nose; Capt Irving Liebman praises her action and says he will recommend her for decoration; PBA pres Ken McFeeley comments; illus (M)

Kissinger and Gromyko, in Geneva Feb 16, discuss Soviet‐Amer relations, including new proposals on arms control; Kissinger, on plane from Bonn, tells newsmen Russians, in Geneva talks on Vladivostok tentative agreement on strategic arms limitation, have submitted draft document with ‘pet ideas’ which US finds troublesome and deficient in inspection procedures; says he expects 4‐6 wks more of sparring before serious discussion; says pace of talks will decide exact time of Brezhnev's planned visit to US; comments on negotiations in Moscow on limiting underground nuclear blasts, including peaceful ones, to certain level of explosive force (M)

preparations for joint Apollo‐Soyuz mission proceed smoothly at Cape Canaveral and at Houston Space Center as well as at Soviet launching site in Kazakhstan; few items remain to be worked out before scheduled July 15 launching; equipment, which includes Amer‐mfrd docking module and complete ‘backup’ Soyuz spacecraft, already have been delivered to respective launching sites; control centers near Houston and Moscow will in Mar carry out 1st serious practice sessions on methods of coping with possible emergencies, using interpreters, telephones, teletype and TV channels; Amer astronauts will undertake 3d training session in USSR in Apr and tech leaders of project will carry out final rev of readiness in May; questions pertaining to flight's safety and its relevance to Amer interests are intensifying, but Soviet cosmonauts and officials are asserting that problem with Soyuz, epitomized by leaky valve that resulted in deaths of 3 cosmonauts of Soyuz 11 in ′71, has been solved; Soviet officials cite evidence of 6 successful follow‐up flights; Soviet tech dir Prof Konstantin D Bushuyev notes films of recent successful Soyuz docking in space have been shown to Amer engineers, and US astronaut Brig Gen Thomas P Stafford holds docking mechanism developed for flight is superior to those used on previous Soyuz or Apollo missions; relevance of joint venture to Amer interests discussed; political attractiveness of Apollo‐Soyuz, which will make possible 1 more manned space mission in interval between Skylab and beginning of orbital flights by space shuttle in ′79, noted; chief problems in organizing joint mission reptdly have been linguistic rather than technological; NASA has been forced to use computers for ‘two‐way’ translations, from English to Russian and Russian to English; astronauts will be forced to rely on command of each other's languages to communicate; mission highlights revd; astronauts illus in training (L)

Inflation and energy crisis have combined to create record case load that is hampering PSC's ability to control rates charged by NYS utilities; statistics on cases in ′60's and today noted; chmn Alfred E Kahn says comm is giving proper attention to immediate rate increase requests, but State Sen Karen Burstein says comm is under pressure to grant temporary rate increases and to do less than necessary in‐depth examination of rate requests; Kahn says effective regulation of utilities requires mgt studies to encourage efficiency, complete redesign of elec rates to promote conservation, evaluation of utilities' construction plans, creation of single corp to do all bldg of future power plants in state, and examination of utilities’ spending for research and development; says Gov Carey's promise of 2 more ‘consumer‐oriented’ comrs will not help staff problems; says even with increase in comm's budget to $13,412,600, staff will have to be cut back; comm has added responsibility of handling complaints about utilities, certifying environmental compatibility of power lines and monitoring utilities’ activities; largest case on comm's agenda is NY Telephone's request of $488.8‐million rate increase, which is more than double the amount of all rate increases awarded by comm in ′60's (L)

Times of London repts that S African Prime Min John Vorster is optimistic that Rhodesian problem can be settled, but he warns that if GB or any other nation interferes violence will erupt (S)

Thousands of Ethiopians, including many Eritrean Moslems, parade through streets in Addis Ababa in Govt‐backed demonstration in support of fight to keep northern prov of Eritrea separate of Ethiopia; rally follows radio broadcast calling on people to come out to demonstrate for Ethiopian unity; Govt‐sponsored event sought to mobilize urban support for stepped‐up war against secessionists in Eritrea Prov; Govt radio puts number of demonstrators at more than 300,000, while foreign observers estimate crowd at 20,000; mil Govt announces state of emergency in prov; ruling mil council also repts that Brig Gen Getachew Nadaw has been apptd chief martial law admr for Eritrea; will replace prov's civilian gov Amanuel Amde Michael; Brig Gen Worku Makonnen is named comr of main mil force in Eritrea and Col Kale Diristos Abai is apptd police comr; Govt official says Ethiopian delegation is ‘planning’ to go to Khartoum, Sudan, in response to call by Sudan's Pres Maj Gen Gafaar al‐Nimeiry, for ceasefire and negotiations; illus of demonstrators (L)