The World - News from Sept. 2, 1988

The United States began removing its intermediate-range missiles from Western Europe in accordance with the INF Treaty signed last December by President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. A convoy hauled nine Pershing 2 missiles from an Army base near Stuttgart, West Germany, and U.S. officials said the remaining 420 medium- and shorter-range missiles will be removed over the next 36 months. The deployment of the missiles had sparked huge protests, including a coordinated demonstration in several West German cities that drew huge crowds in October, 1983. Under terms of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the superpowers agreed to eliminate all land-based nuclear missiles that have a range from 300 to 3,400 miles.