WILSON ASSOCIATE INDICTED OVER EXPORTS TO LIBYA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000606560014-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: August 3, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/17: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606560014-5
ON PAGE
WASHINGTON POST
3 AUGUST 1982
Wilson Associate
Indicted Over
Exports to Libya
By Al Kamen
; ,- and Douglas L. Vaughan
Washington Post stall waters
A federal grand jury in Alexandria
yesterday indicted a Canadian busi-
'mess. associate of former CIA agent
Edwin P. Wilson on charges of ex-
"porting night vision -equipment to
Libya without a license.
Robert A. Manina, a former top
bfficial of an Ottawa-based electron.
ics firm, is charged in the indictment
with shipping a low-light-level tele-
ision camera with a silicon inten-
~ifier tube to Canada in August 1977
and then to Libya without obtaining
the required export licenses from the
17 S. State Department.
Manna, who has been living in
fieland, could be sentenced to up to
-'Iwo years in prison and fined up to
`$100,000 if convicted. He was gen-
eral manager from 1976 to 1979 of
Mfarsland Engineering in Waterloo,
'Ontario, a subsidiary of Leigh In-
1sttuments Ltd. of Ottawa. Reached
by phone last night at his home in
`Gatlow, Ireland, he said he was
under the impression that no laws
-had been broken." He declined fur-
ther comment until he receives of-
ficial notification of the charges and
consults an attorney. Officials of the
'company could not be reached for
ccmment.
- Manna, who moved to Ireland in
19' 9 to work for the firm's branch
there, told reporters last year that
the company won a contract in 1976
to supply night vision equipment to
Libya but that it was intended for
civilian ' use in protecting Libyan oil
fields. Sources familiar with the fed-
?eral investigation into Wilson's ac-
ti?rities say the equipment was used
by the Libyan military.
Prosecutors deck
say who sold the equipment to
Manina. One prosecutor said steps
""all be taken to extradite him if he
fa`ils to answer the indictment, which
,was returned three days before .the
five-year statute of limitations ex-
- pired.
Manna also told reporters last
?r that he and Wilson, who is in
-,federal custody on charges he sup-
,V ed explosives, electronic timers
,::9.4" terrorist training to the Libyan
regime of Col. Muammar Qaddafi,
a "falling out" at some point
vad&ing the course of the contract,
ciich provided for the shipment of
`at_least a truckload of equipment to
Thya. Investigators familiar with
the case gave said the dispute was
b'+s
cover money.
In May 1979, Manina's Jaguar
ttomobile was blown up in the
,iuveway, of his home in Kitchener,
3ntario. Canadian officials have ob-
acnined a warrant charging a former
Filson employe, Eugene Tafoya, in
e incident. Tafoya is a former
&reen Beret who worked for Wilson
A Libya and who was convicted last
dear of an October 1980 assault on
exiled Qaddafi opponent in Fort
,Collins, Colo.
: Canadian officials said yesterday
they are seeking to extradite Tafoya,
1 o is free on an appeal bond and
wing in New Mexico, to stand trial
the firebombing charge.
Tafoya, who was scheduled to ap-
:iear last week before a federal grand
Miry in Denver investigating Wilson's
taes to the shooting 'in Fort Collins,
=bsequently refused to testify, ac-
:.zirding to sources in Denver.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/17: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606560014-5