July 28, 1994

On a night in Rome in October 1986, Aldrich H. Ames of the Central Intelligence Agency knocked back a stiff drink, pulled a baseball cap low over his face and went to meet his case officer from the Soviet intelligence service, the K.G.B. In the attic of the Soviet Embassy's residential compound there, the K.G.B. man, Vladimir, opened a bottle of vodka. Over the first of many glasses, he and Mr. Ames discussed their hunch that the C.I.A. knew it had a traitor within. Vladimir was worried: How could Moscow and its mole mislead the agency? How best to divert attention from Mr. Ames?

Radical Muslims Suspected Israeli officials asserted that a recent campaign of bombings directed at Israeli and Jewish targets was the work of radical Muslim fundamentalist forces. An Argentine investigator questioned two Iranians. Page A10. Overhaul Urged for Police New York City's Police Department needs major changes at all levels from beat patrol to headquarters, a series of highly critical internal reports have concluded. Page B1. Serbs Attack U.N. Convoy A week after rejecting a peace plan, Bosnian Serbs attacked a United Nations convoy outside Sarajevo, killing a British peacekeeper. Later they fired at French forces. Page A3. Combat Posts for Women The Army plans to open to women many combat positions now closed to them, but protests by generals killed a more ambitious plan. Page A12. Japan Negotiating Ford Loan The Export-Import Bank of Japan is negotiating a huge loan to the Ford Motor Company to help build cars for export to Japan. Page D1.

The United States is preparing to send troops to help establish a large base in Rwanda to bolster the relief effort in the devastated African nation, Administration officials said today. Setting up a staging area in the capital, Kigali, would mark an important new phase, committing American troops in Rwanda for the first time. Military officials said 2,000 to 3,000 troops could be sent into Rwanda, in addition to the 4,000 that Washington has said would join relief efforts outside the country.

The Ford Motor Company today reported all-time record quarterly earnings of $1.71 billion for the three months ending in June, as strong demand more than doubled the average profit the company made on each car and truck it sold. Ford attributed the results, which amounted to $1.63 a share, to continued robust sales in the United States and a stronger than expected recovery in the European auto market.

Executives at the Ball Corporation's headquarters here were as thrilled as any astronomers last December when space shuttle astronauts corrected the fuzzy vision of the Hubble space telescope. The dazzling repair in orbit used a $50 million package of special mirrors conceived and built by the company's aerospace group in Boulder, Colo. That technical triumph gave Ball a brief respite from a long-running struggle over how to refocus itself. Overcapacity and slow growth are bedeviling the company's mainstay can and bottle businesses, and the company's hopes that it could build a highly profitable, billion-dollar aerospace business by the end of the decade have been dashed by steady contractions in space and Defense Department budgets.