U.N. Assembly to Debate Ban on Weapons in Space

The U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday agreed to debate a new Soviet proposal to bar weapons in outer space and to hold an international conference by 1987 on the peaceful exploitation of space.

Action came in the assembly’s steering committee, which adopted a 146-item agenda, including the Soviet initiative, for the assembly’s 12-week 40th session, which began Tuesday.

The Soviet proposal, a rewritten version of an earlier draft, also calls on member states to prevent an arms race in outer space by setting up a world space organization. It is expected to be a prominent topic of discussion during the visit here of new Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, who arrived Wednesday. He will address the General Assembly on Tuesday.

Debate on Afghanistan

Afghanistan, which has been occupied for more than five years by Soviet troops, also provoked debate Wednesday in the steering committee as Soviet delegate Vladimir Petrovsky denounced inclusion of the matter on the assembly’s agenda as interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.

However, Pakistani delegate Riaz Mohammed Khan won majority support for the agenda item. Pakistan, together with other Islamic nations and the Association of South East Asian Nations has insisted on keeping the issue before the world body.

Mohammed Farid Zarif, representing Afghanistan’s Soviet-backed Marxist regime, warned that “acrimonious debate” in the assembly would jeopardize negotiations that have been going on for the last three years. “No outcome of such a debate would be either acceptable to, or binding on, Afghanistan,” Zarif added.

Soviets Still There

However, Pakistan’s delegate pointed out that Soviet troops remain in Afghanistan in force, despite previous assembly resolutions calling for their withdrawal.

In another development, the assembly’s new president, Spanish diplomat Jaime de Pinies, complained about scanty coverage of the organization by the press.