U.S.-Soviet Pact on A-Terror Told

GENEVA — The United States and the Soviet Union have secretly signed a formal “understanding” on joint action if terrorists threaten to use nuclear weapons, a member of a Senate arms control observers group said today.

The understanding signed June 14 “amplified and strengthened” a 1971 U.S.-Soviet agreement on nuclear arms safeguards, extending that document to cover nuclear terrorism either by an extremist group or a Third World country, Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) told a news conference.

“I see no reason why this should not be made public and have said so,” Nunn said.

He said Vice President George Bush recently referred to the understanding when he said that the superpowers are seeking a “consensus that terrorists who use or threaten to use nuclear weapons be dealt with jointly and swiftly.”

Bush made the statement at a Geneva colloquium on nuclear arms last Saturday.

Nunn noted that the understanding was a classified document but he felt that the Bush statement made it a public matter. He said the document was classified at the request of the Soviets.