Thatcher taking stock of Afghan refugee plight

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher arrives here today (Oct. 8) to make the first on-the-spot assessment by a major Western leader of problems caused by the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

The British officials said Mrs. Thatcher's largely symbolic stopover on her way back from the Commonwealth summit conference in Australia is meant to show Britain's clear support for Pakistan's opposition to the intervention. Mrs. Thatcher will visit a refugee camp housing some of the 2.3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and will travel to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the historic Khyber Pass.