US REPORT ON NICARAGUAN ARMS ROLE DELAYED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100550005-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: July 12, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100550005-7
ASSOCIATED PRESS
12 July 1984
US REPORT ON NICARAGUAN ARMS ROLE DELAYED
BY ROBERT PARRY
WASHINGTON
A Reagan administration draft report, arguing that leftist Nicaragua still
ships arms to Salvadoran guerrillas, is getting a second look from officials who
fear it won't convince critics.of the claim.
The 35-page report. which was first expected out in late may, then In June
and then last week, remains unpublished as some administration officials press
for release of secret intelligence to buttress the charges and others question
the value of having a new report at all. -
The draft report, entitled "Background Paper: Nicaragua's Military Build-up
and Support for Central American Subversion," was prepared by the State and
Defense departments. It maintains that military shipments, with Nicaraguan
collaboration, continue to flow to El Salvador by sea, air and land.
Nicaragua's alleged support for the Salvadoran guerrillas has been central to
President Reagan's charge that El Salvador's government is the target of
external communist aggression and to justification for covert CIA aid to
rebels fighting to oust the leftist Nicaraguan government.
Administration officials privately predicted release of the new report in
May. put a "June 1984" date on the draft sent to Capitol Hill, and then said It
would be issued last week.
But State Department spokesman Joseph Reap said Wednesday that "there's no
delay. There's never been a promise of a date. We always said we hoped to have
something." A copy of the draft report was obtained two weeks ago by The
Associated Press.
While the report says it relies "primarily upon evidence available throughout
Central America and elsewhere in the public record," State Department officials.
speaking anonymously, say the public information is supported by still-secret
U.S. intelligence, including radio intercepts.
But one senior State Department official, who spoke on the condition he not
be identified, told a reporter that, as written, the report doesn't provide the
"smoking gun" that would provide the public proof of the administration's
allegations.
He is understood to have argued that it not be released because it would only
raise further doubts about whether the administration really knows whether the
Sandinista government is supplying arms to the rebels.
Some officials have pushed for declassification of the intelligence they say
they have, but others contend that such a release would compromise U.S.
intelligence sources and methods, making it harder to obtain future information.
Officials also said that even publication of all the intelligence would not
convince some critics who charge that Reagan is exaggerating Nicaragua's support
for leftist Salvadoran guerrillas.
Cc'
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100550005-7