[ATTEMPT OF CIA OFFICIALS TO LINK THE DEATH OF CIA STATION CHIEF IN ATHENS, GREECE TO THE FIFTH ESTATE]

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100350014-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 5, 2004
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: December 24, 1975
• Content Type: TRANS

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Approved For Release 2004/10/12 : CIA-RDP88-01
The attempts of CIA officials, both current an retired,
to link the death of CIA station chief in Athens, Greece to the
is
Fifth Estate/, more than mere stretching of facts and coincidences.
It is a blatant attempt t
'those who have had the courage
and conviction to oppose the CIA in its domestic and foreign
operations.
Richard Welch, the dead CIA agent, was identified as a. CIA
station chief in Lima, Peru in the Spring/Summer issue of Counterj?y
the quarterly journal of the Fifth Estate. His subsequent inane:
to Greece was unknown 'to us and we have had. no contact t ith the
Greek neWsp=per that identified him. Mr. 11eelch died as a direct
result of the world--wide hostility that the CIA has helped: generate:
againsis the U. S . As a * CIA agent he knet~. that his tale h
ordinating CIA operations, be theyr in Peru or Greece, could
some day lead to his death. It is
If anyone. is to blame. for. Mi
CIA that sent him there to spy and
a fact of life in such organi; za tions .
_-.
Welch! s death, it' is 'the"'
perhaps even to intervene?
it the affairs of the Greek government. - After- the Athens hews ..
publicly identified him, there was no excuse for the CIA to keep
'him there. The blood of iM1r. Welch is on the hands of the CIA,
and not on the pages of Counterspy. The political rationale for
Mr. Welch's death should not be overlooked. For many Greeks the
.name of the CIA brings back horrid memories of U. S.. supported
tortures, imprisonment and death as well as intervention in the
country of Cyprus. Such emotions based on political fact are felt
by many throughout the world.
Approved For Release 2004/10/12 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100350014-2
 Approved For Release 2004/10/12 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100350014-2
Counterspy's policy on publishing the names of CIA operatives
in its CIA Around the World: We Thought You Would Like to Know feature
is that any names published as CIA by a foreign press organ can
and will be published. The CIA station and chief in most countries
is usually well known both by governments and political parties
abroad, Only those who live in the U.S. are denied that information.
Our purpose in publishing names is to help identify the growth
of CIA operations and stations around the world.
If the CIA continues to intervene in the affairs of other
countries., similar events may occur. We are not the people
responsible for those. occurrences, however, The CIA with its
-Murders and torturers has now added the blood of one of its awn
to the long list of victims wkiEh it has denied life.
Approved For Release 2004/10/12 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100350014-2
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The so-called "Counterspy" of the Fifth Estate, without
even an expression of human sympathy, has issued a statement
which can only be called a shocking attempt to use the
death of a'dedicated American as fuel for its irresponsible
and paranoiac attack on other Americans serving their country
here and abroad. I am sure that true Americans will
repudiate this cynical statement.
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Approved For Release 2004/10/12 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100350014-2