E. German Leader Rejects Invitation to Visit W. Berlin

Erich Honecker rejected an invitation Monday to become the first Communist East German leader to visit West Berlin.

The official East German press agency ADN, in a brief report, said Honecker decided not to accept the invitation from West Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen to attend April 30 ceremonies marking Berlin’s 750th anniversary.

Explaining Honecker’s refusal, the agency cited statements by Diepgen last year objecting to East Germany’s claims on East Berlin. West German sources said Moscow also apparently objected to Honecker visiting West Berlin.

Letter Cited

Honecker’s decision came a day after a West Berlin newspaper, the Berliner Morgenpost, published a letter written in July by Diepgen to governors of West German states. The letter urged them to turn down an invitation from Honecker to participate in East Berlin’s 750th anniversary festivities.

Diepgen said East Berlin was using the anniversary celebrations to promote its half of this internationally administered city as the lawful capital of East Germany, according to the Morgenpost.

East Berlin is not recognized as a separate capital by West Germany and the three Western Allied powers--Britain, France and the United States--that control Berlin along with the Soviet Union, which supports the East German claim.

West Berlin City Hall officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Moscow had objected to a Honecker visit to the city’s Western zone, believing such a trip could emphasize ties between internationally administered West Berlin and West Germany.

Britain, France and the United States oversee West Berlin. But day-to-day civilian governing is left to West German citizens working with the Bonn government.

West Berlin’s economy is also integrated with West Germany, despite the city’s island-like location 110 miles inside East Germany.

Separate Celebrations

The city’s two sectors are staging separate celebrations of Berlin’s 750th anniversary. Efforts to hold joint ceremonies were blocked by longstanding East-West differences over Berlin’s legal status.

Bonn officials said they did not expect Honecker’s decision to play a role in relations between East and West Germany.

“The government is aware of (Honecker’s) rejection,” government spokesman Norbert Schaefer said. “We do not expect issues arising out of the invitations to place a burden on our relations.”

West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has extended an open-ended invitation for Honecker to visit West Germany.

The Communist leader had been scheduled to make the trip in 1984. However, he scrapped his plans under pressure from Moscow.

Honecker, 74, has long appeared interested in visiting West Germany. He was born in what is now the West German state of Saarland.