Tass Accuses 4 U.S. Diplomats
The official Tass news agency Wednesday accused four U.S. diplomats of offering to help students in Soviet Central Asia engage in a struggle against ethnic Russians.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Jaroslav Verner denied the accusations and said an official protest will be made with the Soviet Foreign Ministry.
Tass said two diplomats with the rank of second secretary, Earl Irving and Stephen Young, assistant air attache Allen Westrom and assistant to the ambassador Clifford Hart tried to instigate the trouble in Kirghizia, a republic near the Soviet border with Afghanistan.
It said two students, identified only by the last names Kuvanbek and Kuvanychbek, complained to government officials that Irving and Young told them: “If you could unite and jointly act against the Russians, we, that is, the United States, could help you as we are helping the Afghan insurgents.” Tass said the other two diplomats made a similar pitch on a separate trip to the republic.
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