US accuses USSR of role in Pakistani jet hijack

The State Department accused the Soviet Union of responsibility in the hijacking of a Pakistani airliner, a drama that ended over the weekend with the release of the plane and 102 hostages in Syria. In an unusual briefing at the State Department, spokesman William Dyess summoned rreporters to read a statement saying that the Soviets had some responsibility for the episode Mr. Dyess said he based the statement on "reports from American eyewitnesses."

Meanwhile in New York, federal officials said the US is considering asking Syria to arrest Craig Clymore, an American who was among the hostages aboard the hijacked Pakistani airliner. Clymore was secretly indicted last week in New York, charged with being the leader of a multi-million dollar heroin and hashish oil smu ggling ring, officials said.