SECTION: WORLD AFFAIRS; Horn of Africa

PAGE: Pg. 137 A1

HEADLINE: U.S., U.S.S.R. Quarrel Over Ogaden

BODY:
   Relations between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would suffer if Soviet intervention in the Horn of Africa continued, according to
a warning issued Feb. 25 by the U.S. State Department. The statement was contained in a reply to a speech the day before by
Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev in which he blamed the U.S. for creating "obstacles" to improved bilateral relations. [See p.
99A3]

The U.S. statement was the first to draw a link between Soviet involvement in Ethiopia and other issues of U.S.-Soviet
concern. In response to Brezhnev's complaint over stagnation of the strategic arms limitation talks (SALT) and trade
agreements, the State Department said "the character of our general relations also depends upon restraint and constructive
efforts to help resolve local conflicts, such as the Horn of Africa."

While the U.S. agreed with Brezhnev on the need for a favorable outcome of SALT, the statement noted that the Soviet
presence in Ethiopia "inevitably widens and intensifies hostilities and raises the general level of tension in the world."

In reply to the State Department, the Soviet Union Feb. 26 said the U.S. showed "premediated distortion" of the situation in the Horn of Africa. Tass, the Soviet news agency, said Moscow was providing aid to Ethiopia to counter Somali aggression and would agree to a cease-fire once Somali troops withdrew from Ogaden.

(Accounting to press reports, the Soviet media blamed the West and various Arab countries for arming Somalia, despite the
fact that Somalia had been the Soviet Union's chief African ally until the start of the Ethiopian-Somali war.)

The U.S. warning had been prompted in part by a new and greatly enlarged estimate of Soviet and Cuban troop totals in
Ethiopia. Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's national security adviser, said Feb. 24 that a Soviet general was "in direct
command" of Ethiopian forces in the Ogaden region. The State Department Feb. 25 identified the Soviet officer as Gen. Vasily
Petrov, deputy commander-in-chief of Soviet ground forces.

Brzezinski added that the number of Cuban troops and military advisers was believed to be 10,000-11,000, more than double
the 5,000 total estimated Feb. 17 by the State Department. Brzezinski added that 400 Soviet tanks and 50 MiG fighters had
beend eployed in battle. (In a simultaneous news conference, a State Department spokesman said there were 8,000-10,000
Cubans in Ethiopia.)
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