Soviets Won’t Meddle, Imelda Marcos Told

MANILA — The Soviet Union assured visiting First Lady Imelda Marcos that it will not back a growing communist insurgency in the Philippines, the government said today.

The statement by the presidential palace, carried by the state-run Philippine News Agency, said Soviet President Andrei A. Gromyko told Imelda Marcos during a 90-minute meeting Thursday that the Soviet Union “will not interfere in the insurgency problem nor in the internal affairs of the Philippines.”