Soviets assure Japan on submarine towing

Japan has accepted Soviet assurances that a disabled Russian submarine being towed through Japan's territorial waters is not equipped with nuclear weapons and has revised its position on the passage.

The Soviet Echo-1 type submarine, which had drifted for nearly 40 miles two days after it was gutted by fire, was towed within Japan's 12-mile territorial waters Saturday, apparently on its way back to home base at Vladivostock, about 1,000 miles away.