Marines Recall More Guards From Moscow

The Marine Corps has recalled at least five of its U.S. Embassy guards in Moscow in the two months since another guard was charged with spying for the Soviets, Pentagon sources said Thursday.

The transfers do not involve allegations of espionage but rather charges that certain military “good conduct” regulations were violated, officials said.

One source, who requested anonymity, said the recalls had been prompted by allegations that some of the guards had allowed an unauthorized visitor into their barracks. That report could not be confirmed.

Number Unconfirmed

The sources were also unable to say precisely how many Marines had been transferred, putting the number at between five and eight.

The sources said the Marines had been transferred to the Quantico Marine Base in northern Virginia pending completion of an “administrative inquiry” that bore no relation to the investigation of Sgt. Clayton J. Lonetree, the former Marine guard who is now being held at Quantico on espionage charges.

“The Marines are looking into some violations of military regulations,” one official said. “No charges have been filed against anyone yet and nobody is being confined to quarters.”

No Allegations of Spying

Robert Sims, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, refused to discuss the transfers Thursday or say how many men had been moved. But he said none of the moves involved allegations of espionage.

The Marine Corps has charged that Lonetree, while an embassy guard in 1985 and 1986, provided Soviet agents with the identities of U.S. intelligence officials on the embassy’s staff, along with floor plans of the U.S. embassies in Moscow and Vienna.