Court Orders U.S. to Withhold Using Money OKd by Congress for U.N. Population Fund

A federal judge ordered the State Department Monday night to temporarily withhold granting to other agencies or foreign countries $10 million originally earmarked by Congress for the United Nations Fund for Population Activities.

During a rare night session, prompted by the end of the 1985 fiscal year at midnight, U. S. District Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer ordered a hearing Oct. 9 on the merits of a lawsuit brought by two congressmen and the Population Institute.

Oberdorfer, saying that he was hesitant to involve the judiciary branch in foreign policy decisions of the government, said that he wanted to maintain the status quo until the case is resolved.

The judge made his decision after John Seibert, a Justice Department attorney representing the Agency for International Development, said that all but $50,000 of the $10 million mandated for the U. N. agency had already been obligated to other agencies and foreign countries, including Tunisia, Nepal and Kenyon.

The suit asked the court to prohibit the Reagan Administration from cutting off funds to the U. N. Fund, which the government says has backed an involuntary abortion program in China.