General Declares Victory, Ends Order to Staff to Boycott N.Y. Times Reporter

Lt. Gen. John T. Chain declared victory and withdrew Monday in his dispute with New York Times reporter Leslie H. Gelb.

Chain, chief of the State Department’s Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, said that he had lifted an order prohibiting subordinates from talking to Gelb. The order had been imposed last week in reaction to an article by the reporter relating that the United States has contingency plans for deployment of nuclear anti-submarine weapons off Canada, Bermuda, Iceland and Puerto Rico.

In a statement issued by the State Department press office, Chain said that he rescinded the order after “having accomplished enormously more than I ever expected to in focusing attention on the question of leaks of classified information in the government.” He had accused Gelb, chief of the politico-military bureau during the Jimmy Carter Administration, of publishing classified information acquired during government service.

In addition to imposing the ban on talking to Gelb, Chain had removed Gelb’s picture from a display of former bureau chiefs with a notation that it had been taken down “for cause.” The general removed the sign Thursday but, at least for the time being, refused to return the photograph to its frame.