May 23, 1984

A Congressional report identifies William J. Casey, manager of President Reagan's 1980 campaign, as the man who obtained briefing papers prepared for President Carter, Congressional sources said today. Mr. Casey, now Director of Central Intelligence, is implicated in a 2,400- page report to be released Wednesday by a House subcommittee, according to people familiar with the report. They said the year-long investigation was unable to determine who on the Carter staff had provided the documents. The subcommittee chairman urged today that an independent counsel be appointed to inquire further into the matter. A Federal judge ordered such an appointment May 14, but the Reagan Administration appealed the order, saying the judge had no legal authority to order the appointment of an independent counsel. A three judge appeals panel stayed the order indefinitely.

The Solidarity underground says it has kept a Soviet Army deserter hidden since the imposition of martial law in December 1981. The soldier said in a clandestine interview that he had been sheltered in more than 20 homes since deserting in Silesia in the fall of 1981 when the now- outlawed union's heady campaign for liberalization was at its height. ''I simply did not want to go back,'' he said, speaking nervously in a child's room decorated with Roman Catholic religious symbols. ''I did not see any future there. I used to think that maybe Solidarity would take power and on such an occasion I could stay in Poland or I could go to the West.''

In the dense, remote Peten jungle of northern Guatemala, archeologists have successfully raced the start of the rainy season to uncover a remarkable find - a painted Mayan tomb more than 1,500 years old, untouched by looters and in nearly perfect condition. As the first painted tomb to be found intact in the Mayan region since the early 1960's, it is considered by scholars to be a major discovery. Among its contents - including elaborate and mysterious wall paintings, pottery and a male skeleton wrapped in the remnants of a shroud - is a beautifully crafted jar with hieroglyphics and a screw-top lid that amazed the scientists. Arriving on the scene by jeep two hours after the discovery - at noon on May 15 - this reporter came upon a scene of intense, exhilarated activity. The euphoric mood of the archeologists - a collaborative team from the University of Texas and the Guatemalan Government - intensified later at dinner in their thatched-roof cookhouse at the campsite, when numerous toasts were offered with cans of beer.

The possibility of military aid to protect shipping in the Persian Gulf is being discussed by Washington and its allies, according to President Reagan. But, in a news conference, he said the possibility of direct American intervention was ''very slight.'' (Page A1, Column 6.) Jose Napoleon Duarte won predictions in Congress that an all-day lobbying effort would help to gain approval for $62 million in emergency military aid for El Salvador. After the Salvadoran President held a 90- minute meeting with House Democratic leaders, Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. said, ''I think the votes are there overwhelmingly.'' (A1:5.)

''I simply did not want to go back. I did not see any future there.