State Department spokesman Robert J. McCloskey said today that the U.S. “did not necessarily expect” an explanation from the Soviet Union concerning the seizure of a Soviet Jew by police on the steps of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow last week. Mr. McCloskey was questioned about the case of Leonid G. Rigelman, 30, who was prevented by Soviet police from entering the Embassy a week ago in connection with a claim he had filed for American citizenship. He said that pending a U.S. decision on Mr. Rigelman’s claim, the matter was one between the Soviet Union and a Soviet citizen. Mr. McCloskey said the claim was already in Washington but couldn’t say when it reached here or how soon a decision was likely to be rendered. Mr. Rigelman, who was born in the USSR in 1940, reportedly based his claim on the fact that his mother is American-born.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
