U.S. Soldier in W. Germany Defects, Gets Soviet Asylum

An American soldier who was stationed in West Germany has defected to the Soviet Union and has been granted political asylum, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

The soldier, identified only as William E. Roberts, and his West German wife feared persecution for their political views, spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov said, adding that Roberts “already had been persecuted in the U.S. Army.”

Gerasimov provided no rank or Army unit for Roberts, nor did he say when Roberts and his wife, identified only as P. Neumann, arrived in the Soviet Union. He did say that the couple have left for a honeymoon in the Soviet republic of Turkmenia.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy said he had no information about the case except what was provided by the Soviet Foreign Ministry. He contended, however, that the reference to “political asylum” was a misnomer, since U.S. citizens are free to travel to almost any country that will accept them.

In Washington, the U.S. Army announced that it has declared a deserter one of its soldiers assigned to West Germany, Pvt. 2nd Class Wade Evan Roberts, the Associated Press reported. The Army noted that Roberts’ first name differed from that released by Moscow.

Wade Roberts was assigned to Bravo Battery, 379th Field Artillery, 42nd Field Artillery Brigade in Geissen, West Germany, and was listed as having been absent without leave since March 2.

The Army added that the AWOL Roberts was 22, listed his home of record as San Bernardino, Calif., and, according to military records, was single, AP said.

The Pentagon and Army stressed, however, that they are still investigating Wade Roberts’ disappearance and “at this time, we are unable to establish whether or not this is the individual referred to in that (Soviet) announcement.”

The incident was the second publicized case within the last six months of an American choosing to live in the Soviet Union.

Arnold Lockshin, a former medical technician from Houston, applied to live in the Soviet Union with his wife and three children last October after contending that he was persecuted in the United States. He said he once had been a member of the American Communist Party.

Lockshin was received by Soviet President Andrei A. Gromyko in the Kremlin and was described by the Soviet media as an example of American human rights abuses.

Meantime, the new U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Jack F. Matlock, arrived in Moscow and said he was unaware of the reported defection by Roberts.

Matlock refused to comment on disclosures that Marines assigned to guard the U.S. Embassy have allowed KGB agents inside the most sensitive areas inside the American diplomatic outpost.