Moscow given ‘harshest’ rebuke

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 10

Moscow given ‘harshest’ rebuke

NZPA-AP Montreal The international aviation community has issued its harshest rebuke of the Soviet Union for the Korean airliner tragedy, condemning the destruction of the Boeing 747 and accusing the Soviets of withholding information from an international inquiry. The resolution yesterday by the 33-member council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation , was adopted by a secret-ballot vote of 20-to-2. Nine countries abstained. One member, Iraq, was absent and another vote apparently was not cast

The resolution was proposed by the United States and gained cosponsorship from several Western countries. The Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, the only other East bloc country on the council, opposed the resolution. It went beyond earlier resolutions at the United nations, which had only “deeply deplored” the Soviet missile attack on Flight 007 without an explicit statement of censure. The incident claimed the lives of 269 people. Yesterday’s resolution embraced the report of the agency’s investigation into the tragedy, which con-

eluded that human error was the most likely cause for the plane’s 500 km drift off course into Soviet airspace. It “condemns the use of armed force which resulted in the destruction of the Korean airliner and the tragic loss of 269 lives.” The impact of the resolution is largely political since the agency can not pass any sanctions. The Soviets were unrepentent to the end. After the vote a delegate, Boris Ryjenkov, attacked the result as, “completely unjustified and flying in the face of the facts.”