News In Brief

US officer says Salvadoreans could beat rebels with US aid

The top US general in Central America, opposing use of American combat troops in El Salvador, says the Salvadorean Army should be able to defeat leftist guerrillas in two years if given enough aid.

Army Gen. Paul F. Gorman, head of the US Southern Command in Panama, told a House panel he would like to boost the number of US noncombat military advisers in El Salvador from 55 to 125.