TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1985 * The Washington Times Proc oy Kava cose ha Vasari | John 8: Ritch Ill, a foreign relations specialist wno in 1984 detailed Soviet ‘trociies in Afghanistan in lengthy report, Friday was Geniec @ Soviet visa. Soviets deny aide visa; 4 senators cancel trip ee ee By Thomas D. Brandt ‘providing assistance to the ei Thien se US pea Sere ge consukaton and enordingon the Sovies ‘nion yesterday ater With Key nations ofthe Islamic Con Rerencer a Commitee susumary Russian eficels detied a vse we fallaicpeaueclsaralvesee "al Eewrote us year abou the Set -sccy an approsch indersores invasion of Afghanistan. ‘the valid and politically significant "It probably shows. how sen- He," ene pelea sonic sitive the Soviet Union is about the EE essentially an Islaue struc, quagmire they're in in Afghanistan” whereas any activity that casts the ShdiGen Carftovm, Dens cnet RCTS a0 acvity that cans the ‘the four who canceled the trip. “(It) confirm Soviet ‘propaganda, dis- Showchowsawthatnerveendigie® SOME Sowetpropagands. ds- "Te sSpage report by dim B. sae. he ee aa comer Richttimichwarepercdonthe Fuleas wetter a frontpage of thispaperandby many ar. Ritch, whose secret entry into others in March 1984, detalls Soviet ¢chanistan last year Was thOUgitT Strochies walle recommending \fhlrianias year washout ‘ore US. aid tothe Aighan resis. D5 te Sst such venture by « US es mended recognition of the resis: tance as 2 government-in-ezile if ‘they could be sufficiently unified, “I don't think that the essential findings from the Afghan front have- ‘changed since last year" Mr. Ritch said yesterday. ‘Another senator who canceled, Joseph Biden, D-Del, said yesterday that “as a matter of obvious princi. ‘ple, the United States government — including the Senate — cannot allow ‘the Soviet government decide who shall hold Positions on US. govern- ‘ment delegations, “J cannot fail to note the irony that ‘John Ritch ..has iirhis capacity as the Democratic staff's senior adviser on European and Soviet affairs [on’ the Foreign Relations Committee] been # consistent and effective proponent of improved US-Soviet relations” Sen..Biden said “I didn’t anticipate that thoy ould react this way" Mz. Ritch said. “We had hoped to see Gorbachev;"he sald referring to the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. ‘Mr Ritch, a West Point graduate ‘and Rhodes’ Scholar, has served on ‘the committee since he was hired by the last chairman, Sen, J. William Fulbright, D-ark, 13 years ago, Sen. William Cohen, R-Maine, leader of the delegation, said the Soviet decision was a breach of pro- tocol, He asked high-ranking State Department officials to try to con- vince the Soviets to reverse it over the weekend, but to no avail “We were hoping that Mr. Gorba- chev's invocation of the need 10 establish better relations as appeared in [Monday's] print medi seems to have been contradicted by -actions,” Sen. Cohen said. ‘A committee official said yester- day that Mr. Cohen was told by Soviet Embassy officials last week “that there could be problems” with Mr. Ritch’s visa because of the report, which led to the denial on Friday, Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., the fourth senator on the canceled tp, acknowledged that all countries hhave the right to deny entry to any private citizen, but that different standards apply to official govern ‘ment missions, “There is a distinction between 2 group of private citizens traveling and the Unites States Senate official delegation going todiscuss chemical ‘weapons, nuclear weapons, and Stra- tegic Defense Initiative with Soviets who advise their military and their bureaucracy on these matters, and trying to tell us who we can bring as our advisers,"Sen, Rudman said.“Thatis just perfectly outrageous conduct," he said, “The way to warm ‘things up is to noi pur more ice in the ond” ‘The invitation for the trip was offered by the Soviet Academy of Sciences. In previous trips, US. offi. Gials were often able to meet with high-ranking, political officials at ‘Mr. Gorbacher’s level. ‘Sen, Rudman and Sen. Cohen said there was no official effort by the US. government to block any mem- bers of 2 delegation from the Supreme Soviet wao visited Wash: ‘ington last month as guests of the ‘House of Representatives. Some conservatives had put pres- ‘sure on the Reagan administration { deny a visa to the head of that Soup, Politburo member Vladimir Shcherbitsky. because of the role he ‘syed in suppressing Soviet minor “We believe that their delegations ‘outint to be able 20 bring whomever they wish.” Three members of their delegation last month made Statements that were outrageous ‘and Vicious, “but that's their enoice,” Sen. Rudman said, AUS. military attache went to the Soviet embassy on Friday for the travel credentials for the four sen ‘ators and four staff aides, but Mr. ‘Ritch's visa was not among them. ‘At 5 pam. Friday, Sen. Cohen hed a eter delivered t0'the embassy say- ing the trip would be canceled sf Mr. Ritch was not allowed to accompany the group. He also enlisted Kenneth Dani, the deputy secretary of state, and Richard Burt, the assistant secre- tary for Europe, to convey w the Soviets the seriousness of the ‘Meanwhile, the Senate delegation waited until 8'am. yesterday, which ‘was 4 p.m. Moscow time, 10 see if @ change would come out of the Soviet bureaucracy before making: the final decision to cancel the trip. During his trip to Pakistan and thence imp Afghanistan with the fnujahideen resistance fighters, Mr Ritch interviewed 14 Soviet prison ers, ‘The Ritch report describes the war as a standoff, with the Soviets controlling major’ cities and. the ‘mujahideen holding virtually-al! che countryside,