◆ SpookStack

\ ‘Missing Diplomats” Reappear eof a strangest cases in the ., charged that the Red Chinese attacked tangle of treason and espionage that , United Nations forces in Korea because communiam has visited on the world has taken @ newt } The “missing diplo- mat an and Guy” Bur-_ gess—have put in a formal appearance at Moscow to “explain” their disappear- ‘ancé’ from Britain. The explanation (clarifies nothing, except to ‘confirm the ; Benerally accepted fact that the two are | Working for the Russians. It even adds > tome additional mystery to the puzzle. } Why did the Kremlin decide, at this + moment, to unvell the long hidden pair? : There are several possible reasons. For yone thing, the revelations of Vladimir Petrov, who defected from. the Soviet Embassy in Canberra and provided the first public clew to the activities of ‘Burgess and Maclean, stirred up a good deal of bitterness in Britain, ‘The For- elgn Office was led to provide its own ‘Mnformation on the case and the realiza- tion that two rather obvious security “risks had been allowed to retain posts { of considerable importance in the British “foreign service and had subsequently ‘vanished ‘without a trace, subjected the “{government to some pointed criticism. ‘Nt has been suggested that the Russian government would like to reduce the temperature of public opinion on this ‘score Before high Communist officials “pay their scheduled visit to London. * It is also possible that the Russians “were impelled to produce Burgess and “Maclean by @ current controversy in the tates. General MacArthur has —_— they knew that there would be no retri- ‘bution on Chinese territory. In his -Tecent article in “Life” magazine, the general, referring to Burgess and Mac- lean, wrote: “These men with access to. secret files were undoubtedly links in- the chain of our enemy in Korea through Peiping by way of Moscow.” At any rate, whether British or Amer- ican public opinion—~or both—was the- Red target, the Russians have produced the missing diplomats to assert: “We neither of us have ever been Boviet agents.” As to that, the free world will ‘take the evidence of Vladimir Petrov and the British Foreign Office against . the self-serving statement of two men who have done nothing to merit confi- dence and much to destroy it. It may be @ minor point, but the odd phrase- ology of the statement attributed to Burgess and Maclgan, (“already a few months previously,” for example) is much closer to that of Moscow than Cambridge. In fact, it reads precisely like a translation of one of Premier Bulganin’s effusions. Perhaps this js because the published text was originally a Russian document, - signed by the two Englishmen and turned info an approximation of English for export; perhaps they wrote it and the Russians processed it later. But what- ever they have to say must be taken as Just another product of the Soviet prop- aganda mill, Z ; DELETED COPY SENT OLB. NG f. BY LETTE. PER FOIA k F297 Done fof JUN 22 j4i6 aul, 429. - 317 Wash. Post and Times Herald Wash, News Wash. Star N.Y. Herald _£4 Tribune N.Y. Mirror —____ N. Y. Daily News —_ Daily Worker The Worker New Leader Date FER1 34956