News In Brief
| Moscow
Soviets write off Reagan on plan to ban chemicals
The official Soviet news agency Tass Thursday dismissed President Reagan's call for a worldwide ban on chemical weapons as deliberately hedged with unacceptable conditions.
''The President's words showed extremely clearly that this new 'initiative' of Washington is no more than a propaganda trick which the White House intends to use to cover up and justify its program for an accelerated buildup in its arsenal of chemical weapons,'' Tass reported from Washington.
The Tass report was the first Soviet reaction and appeared opposed mostly to Reagan's proposals on verification measures, which the President termed ''bold and sound.''
''Reagan made clear that his administration in fact intended to block any agreement in this sphere by proposing methods of 'control' and 'verification' designed to be unacceptable,'' Tass said.
(See related story on Page 1.)
