TURNER GIVES HILL EVIDENCE OF CUBA ROLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000600080070-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 24, 2004
• Sequence Number: 70
• Publication Date: June 6, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For ReleaW A(~A f6 JDD 0f 980R0006 08007c
J
Turner Give`
Hill Evidencc
Of tuba Role
Photos, Reports Said
To Back U.S. ? Ch arg e
t
Of Zaire Involverneni
By John M. Goshko
and Mary Russell
Washington Post Staff Writera
The Carter administration yes-
terday showed Congress some of
the evidence-satellite photo-
graphs and reports from diplo-
mats and prisoners-on which
President Carter based his. charge
that Cuba assisted the ? rebel inva-
sion of Zaire last month. -
Reliable sources said the evidence,
presented by Central Intelligence
Agency Director Stansfield Turner to
a closed session of the House Intelli-
gence Committee, consisted mostly of
information collected from rebel pris-
oners, diplomats and persons in coun-
tries surrounding Zaire.
In addition, the sources said,
Turner displayed various satellite
photos that he said showed rebel en-
campments near the Zaire border and
a Cuban ship being unloaded in An-
gola, the neighboring Marxist country
from which the rebels,launphed their
attack on Zaire's Shaba Province.
Although the evidence. was de-
scribed by the sources as largely cir-
cumstantial, committee Chairman. Ed-
ward P. Boland (D-Mass.) said, "I'm sat-
isfied, and the committee itself is satis-
fied, that the president's ? statement
was correct."
His words added the committee's
backing to the support given Carter
last week by the top leadership of
Congress:. Senate Majority Leader
Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) and Minor-
ity Leader Howard H. Baker Jr. (R-
Tenn.), House Speaker Thomas P.
(Tip) O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) and Minor-
ity Leader John J.-Rhodes (R-Ariz.).
After a meeting with Carter and
Turner at the White House on Friday,
all four said they believed the presi-.
dent's charges that Cuba helped train
and equip the invading force.
sional support will end the questions
and doubts that have been expressed
about whether the administration has
sufficient evidence to prove its
charges' against the Cuban govern-
ment of President Fidel Castro.
These doubts have come from some
members of Congress, most notably
Sen. George McGovern (D-S.D.), and
from some officials of the administra-
tion itself. The officials, who have
asked not to; be identified, have said
the evidence appears too circumstan-
tial and too, susceptible to differing in-
terpretations to be conclusive.
- Turner, speaking to reporters after
his two-hour session with the commit:
tee yesterday, tried to address that
point, saying: ~ unknown reliability.
"To sum up, we have made a very One committee member said the
careful and objective evaluation of most detailed identification given by
this evidence. In intelligence, nothing
can be black and white. But from the
preponderance of the evidence and
the variety of sources over a period of
time, we can only come to the conclu-
sion that we did." -
Almost certain to add to the contro-
versy was the revelation by adminis-
tration sources yesterday that none of
the evidence will be declassified and
made public-at least not under pres-
ent White House plans.
had been considered but was rejected
out of fear it would reveal the CIA's
sources and methods of collecting in-
formation.
As a result, they added, current
plans call only for the evidence to be
given to the Intelligence and Foreign
Relations committees of Congress on
a restricted, nonpublic basis. That de-
cision, one source said, seems certain
to be adhered to even "if it means a
credibility gap."
Despite a statement yesterday by
House Speaker O'Neill that the ad-
ministration had evidence of Cubans
in Zaire, the administration has said
only that Cuba helped to train and
equip the rebels in Angola and that
Havana knew of the plans for the in-
vasion and did nothing to stop it.
Turner underscored that point anew
yesterday. "This government made no
statement that Cubans were in Zaire
or they were not. The evidence is not
clear one way or the other," he said.
Among those who have seen or been
briefed on some of the evidence, the
biggest argument involves the reliabil-
ity of the sources from whom the CIA
obtained its information.
Persons present at yesterday's com-
mittee briefing said Turner referred
to sources only in such general terms
as "an African diplomat" or a "man
believed to have been one of the rebel
invaders who was wounded and inter-
viewed while a hospital prisoner."
. A source who has' seen one of the
intelligence reports in question noted,
though, that it contained a CIA nota-
tion that the African diplomat who
provided the information had never
been used before and was therefore of
Turner yesterday involved a Belgian
national who was taken prisoner by
the invaders and transported to a rear
area, apparently in Angola, for execu-
tion.
However, the committee member
said, the man spoke Spanish and used
that language to plead successfully
with persons in command over his
captors for his release.
However, it WI Wb i?tRIease 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R000600080070-1
clear, whether th' ? growing congres- .