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US asks wor ldt o con d em nU S S fo r coupWASHINGTON, Dec. 28: TheSoviet Union should be interna-tionally condemned because of

its intervention in. Afghanistan,V Defence Secretary HaroldBrown has said at MacDill AirForce Base, Florida.He told a Press conference theKremlin was engaged in helpingsuppress national and Islamicfeelings .Brown said yesterday that So-viet military intervention in Af-ghanistan was directly responsi-ble for the coup d'etat.He said the United States wasprotesting the Russian role inthat country and predicted thatworld opinion would join in con-demning the Soviet intervention.Brown said the Soviet actionwas counter to the aims of Isla-mic forces in Afghanistan.The U.S. State Department saidSoviet troops poured into Kabuland some may have engaged in

street fighting.Before the coup, only hoursearlier, the State Department hadaccused the Soviet Union ofmounting a massive airlift oftroops and military equipment toKabul in recent days to save offthe threat of Afghan Islamic for-ces.U.S. officials estimated therewere now some 10,000 Soviet com-bat troops in the strategic bufferstate.The Soviet Union has denied it

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ReactionfContinued from page 1has combat troops in Afghanis-tan, describing the XJ.S. shargesas "pure invention".

CHINIn its l'irst report on events inKabul, the official New China

News Agency noted that the coup,which brought Babrak Karmal topower had been "practicallysynchronized" with the widely re-ported Christmas airlift o morethan 200' flights of Soviet troopsand field equipment to Kabul.The agency also reported thatthe American Ambassador inMoscow met a Soviet Vice-Fore-ign Minister yesterday to voiceU S concern over the continuingSoviet military buildup in landnear .Afghanistan.... ;,.,,...,, ,,v. INPIA. , .India reacted today with consi-derable restraint.A Foreign Office spokesmantold newsmen in New Delhi:"India has always opposed anyoutside interference in the inter-nal affairs of one country by ano-ther."Asked by a foreign correspon-dent whether India approve or op-poses the moving of Soviet troopsinto Afghanistan, the spokesmansaid his government is still watch-ing the situation.The spokesman said the gist ofthe issue was whether it is a fact,as the Soviets claim, that theyrendered aid and support for thelegally constituted authorities in"Kabul at the latter's specific re-quest.The Indian government said ithad taken cognisance of the offi-cial Soviet statement communicat-ed to it by Soviet ambassador YuriVorontsov late yesterday, in whichMoscow justified its move underarticle 51 of the U.N. Charter.

RIT INIn London, the British Govern-ment today condemned the SovietUnion's "military intervention" inAfghanistan In which a reported6,000 Soviet combat troops took

part in the coup d'etat.A statement issued by the Bri-tish Foreign Office this afternoonsaid the Government believedthat the people of Afghanistanhave the right to choose theirown Government without outsideinterference.

WEST GERMANYThe West German Government v-.s following developments in At- ^>hanistan with great concern, cBonn's chief Government spokes- yman told a new conference there "today. lHe said the Government had ralso relayed its concern to theSoviet Ambassador who justified ?moving Soviet troops into Afghan- }istan under Article 51 of the U.N.

l-charier (on the right to setf-de- *lence rAccording to the spokesman the *Soviet Unions had relayed its ^stand over moving troops into Af- rghanistan- to other governments.

The spokesman said the moving 'ot foreign troops into a country cas a most serious matter and raised basic issues of internation- 1Jal law. cBrown spent last night at thebase to announce the appoint-ment of Major General Paul Kel-%ley as Officer Commanding the cnewly set up U.S. interventimforce. 'He said the force should be ^built up within the next few cyears and comprise three marine jbrigades to begin with. The force is to be used to inter- lvene in crisis areas outside theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organin-{tion (NATO) field of operation.DPA/AFP.

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