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2 GREEK NEWS EXECUTIVES GUILTY OF LIBELING WRITER

Date: 27 March 1984

AP

A Greek court sentenced the publisher and the editor of Greece's largest newspaper today to four months in jail for libeling the author of a book that characterized them as Soviet ''agents of influence,'' a court spokesman said. The defendants, Alexander Filipopoulos, the editor of Ethnos, and George Bobolas, its publisher, were given the option of paying $360 fines instead of serving jail terms. At the same time, the author, Paul Anastasiades, a Cypriot-born journalist, claimed and was granted symbolic damages of $10. Mr. Anastasiades, 33 years old, sued Mr. Filipopoulos and Mr. Bobolas on the ground that they libeled him in an Ethnos article describing his book, ''Take the Nation in Your Hands,'' as a ''pseudo-book.''

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GENIAL ENVOY FROM VATICAN: PIO LAGHI

Date: 27 March 1984

By Kenneth A. Briggs

Kenneth Briggs

Archbishop Pio Laghi was named yesterday by Pope John Paul II to be the Vatican's Ambassador to the United States. He has become known as an artful church diplomat in the 32 years he has served as a papal representative abroad. Formal diplomatic ties between the United States and the Vatican were restored on Jan. 10 after more than a century of unofficial relations. President Reagan's appointment of William A. Wilson as the United States Ambassador to the Holy See was confirmed and Mr. Wilson was sworn in on March 9. Archbishop Laghi, a genial man, is known within the church as an exceptionally intelligent prelate with an informal demeanor and a polished approach to diplomacy. One Roman Catholic official said the Archbishop's urbanity ''represents what is best about the Vatican diplomatic service.''

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GENERAL TO HEAD MISSILE PROGRAM

Date: 28 March 1984

By Charles Mohr

Charles Mohr

An Air Force general who has directed the space shuttle program was appointed today to manage a program to explore the feasibility of building a space-based defense against nuclear ballistic missiles. Lieut. Gen. James A. Abrahamson, associate director for space flight at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was named by Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger to be program manager of what the Ragan Administration calls the ''strategic defense initiative,'' a program suggested a year ago by President Reagan. General Abrahamson will begin his new duties on April 15 after the nation's 11th space shuttle flight, scheduled to start April 6.

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SOVIET SAYS IT OFFERED TALKS TO REAGAN ENVOY

Date: 28 March 1984

By Serge Schmemann

Serge Schmemann

The Soviet Government's press agency Tass today described as a ''deception '' reports from Washington that a private American envoy carrying a personal message from President Reagan to Konstantin U. Chernenko was not given an opportunity to meet with the Soviet leader or any other top Soviet official. The envoy, Brent Scowcroft, a retired Air Force general, was here earlier this month as a member of a private group of American foreign policy experts attending an informal meeting with Soviet officials. After Mr. Scowcroft returned to Washington, The New York Times quoted Administration officials as having said that Mr. Scowcroft had made known to Soviet officials in Moscow that he had a letter from Mr. Reagan and some additional authorized comments, but never heard anything back and was never given an explanation. The message taken to Moscow by Mr. Scowcroft, the sources said, was that Mr. Reagan was prepared for serious and wide-ranging talks and accommodations with the Soviet Union, including suggestions on the stalled nuclear arms talks, if the Russians would return to the bargaining table.

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BETTER PROSPECTS SEEN FOR RAISING AID TO SALVADOR

Date: 27 March 1984

By Hedrick Smith, Special To the New York Times

Hedrick Smith

Some Congressional Democrats, back from observing the presidential elections Sunday in El Salvador, said today that, despite problems, the size of the voter turnout had improved the prospects in Congress for President Reagan's request for more military aid to El Salvador. The United States Embassy estimated that 1.1 million to 1.3 million Salvadorans cast ballots. That is below both the 1.55 million who voted in the 1982 legislative elections and the 1.8 million total that the Salvadoran Government had estimated would vote Sunday. The American delegation met this afternoon with President Reagan. Afterward, both the House majority leader, Jim Wright of Texas, and Senator Walter D. Huddleston of Kentucky said they were more inclined to support additional aid for El Salvador despite having seen firsthand some ''bureaucratic difficulties'' with ballot boxes and voter lists.

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4 Soviet Ships Reach Cuba

Date: 27 March 1984

Reuters

The Soviet helicopter carrier Leningrad, the guided-missile destroyer Udaloy, a diesel submarine and a supply ship arrived in Havana today on what the Soviet Embassy caled a good- will mission. The four ships will stay until Friday.

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STUDY SAYS PLAN TO REDUCE NUCLEAR WEAPONS MAY SAVE $30 BILLION

Date: 27 March 1984

By Wayne Biddle

Wayne Biddle

The Reagan Administration's proposal for reducing strategic nuclear weapons by retiring more old warheads than it replaces could save the Government nearly $30 billion through the end of the century, according to a study released today by the Congressional Budget Office. The report also concludes that this concept could lead to increased stability between the forces of the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as a better match in combat capability. In a related finding, the study said that canceling further production of the MX intercontinental missile could save about $14 billion over the next five years. Holding MX procurement at the current level of 21 missiles per year instead of the 40 a year requested by the Air Force for 1985 could save $4.4 billion by 1989, the report said.

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SALVADOR REBELS SAID TO USE U.S. ARMS

Date: 28 March 1984

By Hedrick Smith

Hedrick Smith

A top Defense Department official said today that roughly half of the arms used by Salvadoran guerrillas were United States-supplied weapons taken from the armed forces of El Salvador. The official, Fred C. Ikle, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, said, however, that more United States military aid was urgently needed to help the Salvadoran Army break what he termed a military stalemate, ''turn the corner'' against the guerrillas, and ultimately gain a victory over the guerrillas. Representative Clarence D. Long, Democrat of Maryland, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, asked Mr. Ikle for an evaluation of hitherto undisclosed official estimates that half of the arms used by the Salvadoran guerrillas ''are weapons gotten from the Salvadoran military.'' ''Correct,'' Mr. Ikle replied. ''The guerrillas, or a substantial part of their equipment, their arms, stems from those that they've been able to take away, capture or acquire by other means from the Salvadoran armed forces. This is not unexpected in a guerrilla warfare of this kind. But action has to be taken against it.''

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REAGAN CHALLENGES CRITICS ON SOVIET ARMS TALKS

Date: 28 March 1984

By Francis X. Clines

Francis Clines

President Reagan, accusing those who criticize him over arms control putting the nation ''behind the eight ball'' with the Soviet Union, today challenged ''would-be leaders'' to specify what incentives they would use to get the Russians to return to arms negotiations. ''It's about time to get serious and ask these would-be leaders what they expect to use as incentives with the Soviet Union,'' the President declared without identifying which ''would-be leaders'' he had in mind. ''Good will and sincerity will get them a smile and a glass of vodka. And you can guess why the Soviets will be smiling.''

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HALF OF DEMOCRATS IN POLL ASSERT CHOICE FOR NOMINEE HAS SHIFTED

Date: 27 March 1984

By Adam Clymer

Adam Clymer

In a year of fragile and shifting political allegiances, almost half the nation's Democrats have changed their choice for their party's Presidential nomination in the last month, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows. Moreover, two-thirds of those who switched their preference, and nearly half of those who did not shift, show only weak support for their current preference. That finding suggests possible shifts may yet come in the unsettled Democratic contest. The survey, taken March 21-24, makes it clear that former Vice President Walter F. Mondale has rebounded from the sharp plunge in Democratic support he suffered after losing to Senator Gary Hart in the contests in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. The result is not a restoration of anything like the commanding Mondale lead last month that preceded the primaries, but indicates a close contest in which each candidate holds important advantages.

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