News In Brief

African island nation said to host Soviet garrison

The Soviet Union maintains at least three secret military bases on the south Atlantic island nation of Sao Tome and Principe, the Noticias de Portugal news agency reported Tuesday.

The agency quoted unidentified Western diplomatic sources as saying about 2, 000 Soviet and Cuban troops were stationed at two radar stations and a submarine port protected by SAM-5 missiles in the archipelago nation of 100,000 people. The report said the leftist regime of President Manuel Pinto da Costa also hosts a 2,000-man garrison of troops from Angola, located about 600 miles to the southeast on the African mainland.

The news agency said the Soviets were establishing a military presence on the tiny archipelago to counter any loss of influence in Angola.