Kennedy plot theory arouses new interest WASHINGTON <UPI>— A spreading spiracy, foreign or domestic,” but hedid stam of suspicion that John F. Kennedy . not dismiss the possibility, might have been the victim of a plot “So far, I have seen no evidence that involving Ihe Centra) Intelligence would dispute the conclusions to which Agency has aroused President Ford's we came,” he said, curiosity and stirred new excitement But "if the facts seem to justify it,” among advocates of the conspiracy i Ford said, the Rockefeller commission theory. the special House and Senate Tf I were a betting man,” says trial lawyer Bernard J. Fensterwald, “I’dbet the full story will be known within a \ear." "A year? I’m surprised at Fen sterwaid," said Dr Richard Popkin, a philosophy professor at.,Washington I'mversity in St. Louis. “I'd make it six months.” Both men have noticed in recent months a growing web of unrelated disclosures, events and., allegations which they believe will provoke the first serious re-examination of the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone as Ken nedy’s assassin in Dallas. President Ford, who was a com mission member, also apparently noticed the resurgence of interest in the circumstances of Kennedy’s death, particularly when the CIA was men tioned. ‘ Some time in March, the White House said. Ford looked up the precise language of the Warren Commission's findings which he had helped write. So, when he got a surprise question about the matter April 3 at his San Diego, Calif., news conference, Ford was prepared. He defended the commission’s •very carefully drafted” statement that "we had found no evidence of a con- S. Viet airbase shelled SAIGON (UPl)—Communist artillery thundered closer to Saigon than ever before last night, bombarding a former American airbase where earlier in the day saboteurs blew up South Vietnam’s biggest ammunition depot. The attack with 130 mm artillery, the biggest and most accurate guns in the North Vietnamese army, came hours after saboteurs crept inside the American-built Bien Hoa airbase 14 miles northeast of Saigon and touched off ex plosions that*shook the capital itself. Military sources said the 20-round artillery attack caused light damage to one taxiway at the huge airbase, which houses the headquarters for the South Vietnamese military com- mand. It was the first time in the war that the long-range 130 mm guns had been employed in the provinces around Saigon. The Soviet,made field pieces are considered accurate to u ithin five yards at a maximum range of 17 miles and are the most feared weapons in the North Vietnamese arsenal. There was no immediate word on casualties or overall damage at the Bien Hoa bomb depot, which is the largest air force ammunition dump in South Vietnam. The massive explosions—four major ones shook Saigon early today—indicated losses were high. 11 was the second major ammunition loss for the South Vietnamese armed forces in just over 24 hours. South Vietnamese forces yesterday took more territory around Xuan Loc, 38 miles northeast of Saigon in the sixth day of a battle which may decide thefate of the capital itself. Field officers said South Vietnamese forces had enlarged their defense perimeter around Xuan Loc. But North Viet- Israeli forces go on alert Hy I'MTKI) PRESS INTERNATIONAL 10,000 Israeli war dead since 1948. Flags Kfir—“Young Lion”—resembles the -Israel y esterday put its forces on alert dipped to half staff, cafes and movie French. Mirage and is powered by the aginst possible Arab guerrilla attacks theaters shut down and solemn US. General Electric J 79 jet engine, during the nations Memorial and assemblies and prayers were held In other Mideast developments - Independence Day holidays. throughout the nation. In neighboring Lebanon an uneasy Celebration of Independence Day . n Washin gton, President Ford met (race enabled warring Palestinian begins tonight and continues tomorrow. with U.S. ambassadors to Israel, Egypt, guerrillas and rightwing Lebanese In Lebanon’s worst civil strife in two Syna and Jordan in the continuing commandos to bury their dead after years, the government moved in troops reassessment of American Middle East fighting on Sunday and during the night and armor to tie Beirut suburb of Ein P olic - v foll °wing the collapse of that claimed betweeif22 and 45 lives. Rummaneh, stronghold of" the Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy. Israeli officials unveiled the country’s Phaiangist Party, where the fighting —The Israeli Parliament met in i’.mirtnn f ’fn ' y P rodaced warplane, a began Sunday. special session to discuss Alien’s trip, supersonic fighter-bomber, as the nation The Phalangists, who have an armed but the opposition could not get enough prepared to honor its war dead. militia of 5,000, are opposed to the’ votes for a motion to open debate COUn - [ >alestinian guerrilla presence in Opposition leaders argue that the timing ?l r l ? signalled the beginning Lebanon. , of the visit was wrong because of the of memorial services for more than The Israeli plane, called the U.S. policy reassessment. Senators agree to consider Vietnam aid WASHINGTON ' (UPI) —President Ford ap parently won agreement from key senators yesterday for speedy consideration of his emergency requests for military aid to South Vietnam and contingency powers to help in any evacuation Sen. Clifford Case, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee which met with Ford for 90 minutes at the White House, told reporters the panel was working to give President Ford “a degree cff-discretion” in providing limited 1 military aid to Saigon. Earlier in the afternoon, Senate Democratic leader Mike Mansfield told the Senate Democratic caucus that South Vietnam could not expect anymore U.S. aid if it insisted on con tinuing the fighting rather than seeking to negotiate with the Communists. Asked if the committee was ruling out President Ford's request for $722 million in military assistance, Case said: “I would not rule it out if you don't use that high a figure. I think we would allow a degree of discretion for the President. “There is not a disposition to be stiff-backed on f 2QZ PA' Collegian ihe daily committees investigating CIA domestic activities might investigate. Fensterwald, a dapper little Ten nessean whose clients have included Watergate burglar James W. McCord Jr. and James Earl Ray, said he believes something big is about to break in the Kennedy case, “I have the same feeling I did about Watergate, the feeling the game was up,” when McCord broke his silence with a letter to U.S. District Judge John J. Sirica charging high-level j political pressures to cover up the scandal. “There’s just too much evidence around that the Warren report is not correct, that the CIA and the FBI both know a huge amount they didn’t tell the Warren Commission,” Fensterwald said. But neither the Rockefeller com mission nor Congress seems to share his sense of urgency. The executive director of the Rockefeller commission, David Belin, is a former Warren Commission counsel and staunch defender of the single assassin argument. A spokesman said: “No evidence has been submitted to indicate any CIA involvement.” The Senate committee staff has acknowledged it will study the question, but only as a peripheral CIA issue. the part of the Congress or over-insistence on the part of the President.” Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and Defense Secretary James R. Schlesinger will testify to congressional committees today, Sen Frank Church, D-Idaho, said after the meeting. Church said the White House meeting with committee members was “very serious” and that its purpose was “to discuss^ ways' and means to expedite the President's request.” ■Meanwhile, Mansfield announced after a meeting of Senate Democrats that floor sessions would, be cut as short as possible to enable the appropriate committees to hold prompt and comprehensive hearings on Ford’s requests. Mansfield cautioned the caucus that U.S. participation in Indochina hostilities could not be resumed without express congressional consent. In a particularly blunt statement, Mansfield said, “The sooner everyone in this government, in every, branch and service, recognizes 'their constitutional responsibility, the better for all concerned. “To find any pretext to the contrary is to raise Fensterwald believes the trigger for what Popkin called the “amazingly rapid buildup” of interest in the Kennedy case—the equivalent of a McCord let ter—was disclosure of CIA involvement in assassination plots' against several foreign heads of state, including Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, D-Tex., who has called for a new inquiry, says his suspicions were aroused by Watergate revelations of CIA activities and the Bay of Pigs. The Executive Director of the presidential- commission investigating the CIA said yesterday so far there has been no evidence to support allegations it was involved in the 1963 assassination of President JohnF. Kennedy. Belin talked to reporters following the 13th closed meeting cf the Commission headed by Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller.- “Thus far \ye have not found any 'credible evidence that the CIA was in volved as a party in the assassination” he said in answer to questions. He said any other queries would to wait until the commission finishes its work June 15 and makes its report? will not comment on what will or will not be discussed,” Belin said. He said that Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger had been tentatively scheduled to appear before the com mission yesterday but than it would ifot have been appropriate with the absence of Rockefeller, who left for Taipei over the weekend to represent President Ford at the Wednesday funeral of Chiang Kai shek. namese forces still had the devastated city surrounded and were still hitting the defenders with mortar and artillery fire. •Xuan Loc is important as a kev noint on one invasion route to the nation’s capital and its defense a morale boost to a na tion hungry for a victory. The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese already control 19 of South Vietnam’s 44 provinces and two-thirds of its land area. The struggle for Xuan Loc is also vital to the defense of Bier Hoa itself. Should Xuan Loc fall, Bien Hoa could be next on the Communist target list in any preparations for an assault on Saigon. "1 In neighboring Cambodia, Khmer Rouge rebels smashed through Phnom Penh’s defenses yesterday and all but sealed the city.’s fate as the first capital to fall to the Communists in the Indochina war. Government defenses deteriorated rapidly on Cambodia’s Buddhist New Year’s Day and Phnom Penh’s fall—and with it the fall of Cambodia itself—appeared imminent, perhaps only hours away. In a broadcast monitored in Saigon, Phnom Penh Radio said last night Communist-led insurgents pierced the city’s north ern defenses and battled ijo within “several hundred” yards of the French Embassy in the heart of Phnom Penh. But early today the radio began broadcasting at its usual time with no indication of a major change in the situation. The radio asked the people to remain calm and assured residents of the refugee-swollen city there would be continued supplies of rice and food. The radio gave no report on overnight military activity once again the specter of Watergate—the specter of gross illegal behavior on the part of officials of the U.S. sworn to uphold the Constitution and the law.” “It would seem-to me,” Mansfield told the Senate Democratic Caucus, “that a prerequisite of any kind of aid program, if it is to have a con structive impact in this critical situation, would be,a good faith effort by the Saigon government to open urgent negotiations seeking to establish a tripartite National Council of National Recon ciliation under Article 12 of the Paris peace ac cords of 1973.” The peace accords, which ended direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnamese War, called on South Vietnam and the Viet Cong to create such a national council to negotiate Vietnam’s political future. Early negotiations under that provision failed. Mansfield did not mention Thieu by name, but he clearly was referring to the South Vietnamese president when he said: “At this point, there is no room for adamancy on the part of any individual in the Saigon govern- UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT GOVERNMENT Parliamentarian-elect Ken Eckard (seated), USG Vice President Leo Lachcik (standing left) and Frank iMuraca, chairman of Pennsylvania Student Lobby (standing middle) listen as Joe Seufer, USG President asks students and their parents to write to Pennsylvania legislators to protest the proposed tuition hike. Fight against tuition hike to begin on Wednesday •; He said a PSL study indicated that CPSBUoo students will not be able to return to school and countless more unable to Students complain about higher tuition enroll because of the proposed budget but now they may be able to do cuts. something about it. PHEAA loans have riot increased so By GAIL SNYDER Collegian Staff Writer Undergraduate Student Government more people will be applying to get less President Joe Seufer announced last dollars, he said. , night that START-UP (Students Against Muraca said if students unite thrdugh Higher Tuition at University Park) will writing letters of protest to their begin Wednesday. j legislators they can have a tremendous An emergency meeting of all student impact. He said a letter could mean organizations will take place 7:30 tonight millions of dollars from Harrisburg! in the HUB Assembly Room, to pick up The University of Pittsburgh, which is support for the project. threatened by a $250 tuition increase, Frank Muraca, Pennsylvania Student held a START-UP day that had a Lobby (PSD chairman, said a $l5O tremendous impact on Pittsburgh tuition increase would create financial legislators, according to Muraca. problems for Some students. • “Were going to need 30,000 letters Defence perimeter pierced Phnom Penh infiltrated PHNOM PENH (UPI) Khmer Rouge rebels smashed through Phnom Penh's defenses yesterday and all but sealed the city’s fate as the first capital to fall to the Communists in the In dochina war. '■ - a- , Government defenses deteriorated rapidly on Cambodia’s Buddhist New Year’s Day and Phnom Penh’s fall—and with it the fall of Cambodia it self—appeared imminent, perhaps only hours away. In a broadcast monitored in Saigon, Phnom Penh Radio said last night Com munist-led insurgents pierced the city’s northern defenses and battled to within “several hundred” yards of the French Embassy in the heart of Phnom Penh. A government armored squadron headquarters was stationed just north of the French embassy, but] the radio report did not indicate whether the camp itself was attacked. j Rebel forces pushed into deserted Pochentong village, between Phnom Penh and Pochentong Airport which has been the city's 1 one supply link to the out side world for more than two months. UPI Cambodian newsmen said they 'swept behind government defenders on the crumbling western defense line. \ Insurgents set refugee slums aHrq and Ten cents per copy ' Tuesday, ApriMs,l974 Vol. 75, No. 150 10 pages University Park, Pennsylvania Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University sent thousands of families fleeing toward; what seemed certain to be only tem porary safety closer to the center of Phnom Penh, only to be turned back by military police at the city limits. : Recoilless rifle shells fired by rebels less than 500 yards away hit the'Univer sity"oF Phnom Penh faculty of letters buildingAt the western edge of the inner capital city, wounding two students. A dissident Cambodian air force pilot, identified as Lt. Khieu Yossavat, bombed —but missed—the high commahd headquarters in downtown Phnom Penh. Unconfirmed reports said government artillerymen turned their guns toward the city and joined rebel forces in heavy shelling barrages. The government clamped a 24-hour curfew on Phnom Penh and threatened arrest of civilian? and court martial of Spldiers if they were caught on the streets. . Radio Phnom Penh appealed for calm and said U.S. aid would arrive soon by parachute, in broadcasts interspersed with music such as “Marching Through Georgia” and “Old Folksat Home.” American supply planes quit landing at the airport with the U.S. pullout of Satur day, but U.S. civilian-flown jets began airdropping food, fuel and ammunition to Earlier yesterday in Saigon, Thieu had presented his “War Government of Union” and vowed never to surrender. "It would be well to remember that what is at stake is not the reassertion of Saigon’s control oyer thousands of square miles of territory which its forces have abandoned,” Mansfield said. "What is at stake is the prevention of a final Gotterdammerung at Saigon. ” At stake was Ford’s request for almost $1 billion in aid for Vietnam and an administration plan to use American troops to evacuate both Americans and sympathetic Vietnamese from the Saigon area, where the Communists’are encroaching. Mansfield, chairman of the Far East sub committee and a life-long expert on Asian affairs, said Ford’s request 1 for aid “borders on the irrational.” Assistant Senate Democratic Leader Robert Byrd meanwhile introduced a resolution that would allow Ford W use American troops to evacuate only American citizens from Vietnam. A . few' hours before the Foreign Relations 5 COPIES from Students and 60,000 letters from parents,” Seufer said. There will be tables in the HUB, and during! dinner at the dining halls Wed nesday, Thursday and Friday with sample letters and lists of legislators by districts. “Even if you only know your town you will be able to write. We must start up now or pay later,” Muraca said. In other action, the Senate re-elected A 1 Leard pro tempore and appointed six committee chairpersons. They were: Rules: Bernie Campbell, Judiciary: Gary Bizal, Appropriations: Stephen Wickriser, Government Operations: Judy Johnson, Student Affairs: Ken Dandar and Trustees: Dale Ginsberg. Phnom Penh’s defenders during the weekend. The worsening situation Mon day all but closetP the airport even to Cambodian military planes.' Acting president Sak Sutsakjmp, pleading for calm, said, “I and milpary and civilian leaders are actively con tinuing to work without fear in order to lead our republic toward achieving our final goal.” Only hours earlier, Sak Sutsakhan was appointed to head a last-ditch "High Committee of the Khmer Republic," to lead the nation and to try to negotiate with the insurgents. There was not even a pause in the fighting. Rebel forces also infiltrated Kauk Khlieng village one mile to the north and a string of refugee villages along the northwest perimeter. Fleeing refugees from Kauk Khlieng, once a placid rice growing village, said the insurgents killed 10 villagers and abducted one-third of the population. How many persons lived in Kauk Khlieng was not known. Weather Clearing and cool today. High 46. Clear and cool tonight. Low 36. Mostly sunny and mild tomorrow. High 57. - Committee met with Ford, the White House made public a letter which the President had sent congressional leaders over the weekend to advise them that the evacuation of Americans and Cambodians from Phnom Penh was achieved "without incident.” ' Ford’s better said the Cambodian rescue was ordered and conducted under his constitutional “power and authority as commander-in-chief of U.S. armed forces.” . But top administration- officials claim the President doles have the same authority to order U.S. military forces used if necessary for a massive evacuation of South Vietnamese. Philip C. Habib, assistant secretary of state for Far Eastern affairs, told Congress meanwhile that a plan would be ready in two days for evacuating what one congressman estimated to be as many as 400,000 persons whose lives would be at stake in South Vietnam. He told a closed session of a House Immigration subcommittee that part of the planning problem was in arranging for other nations to share in the asylum plan for Vietnam evacuees.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers