Use of US troops in El Salvador: 'farfetched'

The White House over the weekend further closed the door on the possibility of using American combat troops to fight leftist guerrillas in El Salvador.

''It's an awfully farfetched idea that we would contemplate combat troops,'' deputy press secretary Larry Speakes said. The remark appeared to be aimed at calming fears in Congress that the United States could get involved in a Vietnam-type war in Central America.