Frenchman leaves USSR over exile of Sakharov

By With Analysis from Monitor Correspondents around the world; Edited by Ruth Walker

January 24, 1980

Moscow

Former French Premier Jacques Chaban-Delmas has cut short an official visit to the Soviet Union in protest over the arrest and exile of Andrei D. Sakharov, the dissident leader and Nobel Peace laureate. In a statement issued to French correspondents, Mr. Chaban-Delmas said he was returning to Paris because he would not be able to keep silent on the Sakharov affair if he completed his Soviet tour.