TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT'S NEWS CONFERENCE ON FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC MATTERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000600080016-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 24, 2004
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: June 27, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R00060008f9 6-1
ARTICLE APPEAE
ON PAGE
Transcript of Presi
an.. .pies
cy onAngoia t t
lLpoli
5ecretay of.stateVaace has said'
=that yewantto cooperate with the New
a' GovernmentinAngolaand?we justsent
a diplomat over to.-Angola..tO..:d0: just
'that; to talk-to him. AF Yesi Q.}Weli;x
few weeks earlier.the- C.I:A..Director;.
:.Thad been upon Capitol Hill trying to get
approval from the Senate- fora plan to
backdoor weapons to the rebels"ia'An',
gola. What is, the' stee y41n. these
-two-positions and wouldyou-have ap:-
proved.that plan? -A. That was. neveriheplaa.pai for=:
.,.ward-to send backdoor weapons to LheY
rebels-because that would- have=been
in violation of the American law.azid I.:
`don't believe any, responsible person is
..my - Administration- would : .have ?via>
lated: the. so-called.*Clark Amendment?
which prevents us from either-direct ar a
indirect.invoivetnentin-the?interaal of
fairs
Our relationship: with. the Angolaa of-.
ficials has been a. fairly consistent one:
Ever. since.I've been.in: office we have ,
bad - negotiations. or .consultations' di=
rectly. with Angolan --officials. -This is
important;. first of: all beeausewewant-
?to have -peace?ira'Southern Africa and
Mr: Neto, who isthe leader.of the Ango-
Ian-Government-has some influence an
other African' leaders, particularly the:'7
leaders of"S.W.A.P.O., vwhere we want
? ti -;; i t
an agreement in Namibia `x;,
~::'Also we.bave wanted to hold the An-
golan leaders responsible fez anyt fu--
tore possible invasions into the?Shaba
.Province in Zaire_.I also would.-like ao
`see the.Cubans begin.to.remove their
troops fromm-Angola,And a fewweeks"-
ago in New York. their: Foreigzt: mUT-L i
-ter,theAngolaaForeign. injster. ' et-
with our Secretary of State.. and : sug-?
gested-additional consultations;:which?
is a continuation of what.. was. done; all'
the time. ;r_ .-.
-We-haveino desire. at this-point,lno-4
plan to normalize our relationship with;
?Angola . but: we_have-, nev-.er c_ontem;
plated getting militarily involved in
Angola: directly nor indirectly, and this. -
present visit by Mr..Mclienry to ' An-?
ews,C
?
c: Matters
.
+
gala is part of a series of consultations.
ti Q. Mr.:President. Set me. follow that
up. I'm not quite sure what you re say-
ing when you say that there was no Plan
resented to the Senate. The O.I.A. Di-
p
rector, Mr. Turner; did present a docu
ment,.a written plan to Senator:Clark to
to see if Senator Clark. thought that
tr
y.
x this would be acceptable and would not
violate the Clark Amendment: The Plan
called for sending arms to a third coun-
try to the rebel forces in Angola. Did
you know about that meeting? Did you
know about that document? .And since
others around the Administration did.
Would you have approved it?.,
I didn't have, any idea that the
C:I.A: Director-- had' even 'talked to"
Senator Clark about it.~My impression
:of, it from the news reports and from-
subsequent. information was that he
went to consult with Senator Clark to.
see within. the. bounds of the law what
involvement would be possible inAngo
la,; but I had no knowledge of that nor .
have I ever intended to send weapons to
;Angola, either directly or indirectly.
Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R000600080016-1