This Day In 1970's History: Wednesday February 20, 1980
- Doubts about the release of Americans held in Iran were renewed as an international commission of inquiry delayed its mission for at least three days and Ayatollah Khomeini issued a strong statement supporting the militant captors and their demand for the return of the deposed Shah. Diplomats at the United Nations said that President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr had asked for more time to gain the assent of the militants in giving up the captives. [New York Times]
- A U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics this summer was termed "final and irrevocable" by the White House as President Carter's deadline for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan expired. Officials said that even if the troops withdrew, the American Olympic Committee was expected to abide by his decision.
Soviet troops held their Afghan posts and Moscow has been expanding its force in Afghanistan, according to Western diplomats in Kabul. Western sources also said that the rebellion had increased sharply, that it was well beyond the control of Afghan troops and that a sudden Soviet withdrawal would probably lead to the collapse of the Soviet-backed government. [New York Times]
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth died at the age of 96 in her Washington mansion. Mrs. Longworth, the elder daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, had reigned for 80 years as the capital's dowager empress, renowed for her constantly fascinating personality, caustic wit, happy iconoclasm and influential political connections. [New York Times]
- Seven Republican presidental hopefuls accused the Carter administration of inaction on inflation and weakness on national defense, chiding each other mildly as they joined in a nationally televised forum each hoped would bring him success in next Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. [New York Times]
- Fears of jeopardizing prosecutions prompted the House Judiciary Committee to reject, 27 to 0, a resolution that would have directed the Justice Department to give to the House all evidence it had compiled against seven members of Congress mentioned in a federal undercover investigation of alleged political corruption. [New York Times]
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