J THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON Dear Mr General Secretary I am sure that you have been monitoring as I have developments relating to the detention by Soviet authorities of the U S News and World Report Moscow correspondent Nicholas Daniloff I would like you to have in mind two points as you consider how to handle this case First I can give you my personal assurance that Mr Daniloff has no connection whatever with the U S Government If you have been informed otherwise you have been misinformed Second there are no grounds for Mr Daniloff's detention nor for any attempt to link him to any other case If he is not freed promptly it can only have the most serious and far-reaching consequences for the relationshp between our two countries That would be an extremely unfortunate outcome and I therefore thought it important to emphasize personally the gravity with which this situation is viewed by the United States Therefore I hope sincerely you will take the necessary actions to allow us to put this matter behind us in the nearest future Sincerely His Excellency Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Kremlin Moscow