FIGURES IN IRAN ARMS CASE ARE NAMED IN FLA. LAWSUIT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100230001-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 5, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 17, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100230001-8
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Figures in fran arms case
are named
?
in na. lawsiji
YS ey Ben Bradlee JrThe suit Is rain Globe Staff g brought by
the Washington-based Christie in-
Two
st1
c
central fig
ures in the Iran-
contra affair - retired Air Force
MAJ. Gen. Richard Secord and his
Iranian business partner. Albert
Hakim - are part of a renegade
teem of former and current gov-
ernment agents who have traf-
ficked In arms and narcotics since
the Vietnam War to support anti-
communist Insurgency warfare
around the world. according to an
affldvait filed this week in a little-
publicized federal lawsuit in .Nii-
arru.
tit,
? .,c~.u nl
grow tn min aimin ~ tapped the Ser'or
Qroun
tonal ban on U
aid and to het facilitate the secret
sate of arms to Iran. the lawsuit
The charges are spelled out In a
95- a e affidavit tiled Monday in
l a 1523.8 million clot suit rou
by Tony Avfr>lan an
art a
hfllie~ husband and wits free-
lance urnalist team, against two
un contra ea ers an several
milltarv o icla s
The lawsuit. filed in May after a
Invests ation, stems
from the May Iggq bombing o a
ess conference held by contra
leader Eden Pastora in as ca
In which ffve De
e..
and two down "`
in tired
Inc
,
u n
14
AvtrQan and Honey -a! ;is was
? ?~ai uunCra
~h~L14a he considered a puApe o
Thsuit charges the defen-
dants with responsibility for the
bombing In the context of a larger
conspiracy to sell cocaine in the
united States to raise money to
buy arms and other supplies for
the contra war effort. The lawsuit
exposed details of the contra sup-
Ply Pipeline and has taken on new
significance since news first broke
of the dlversior If profits from
Iran arms saks ie contras.
ute, a liberal Catholic public
Intere
t l
f
s
aw
irm andl
poicy center
best known for winning a $10.5
million libel verdict for the family
of Karen Sllkwood. the nuclear
worker allegedly contaminated
while handling Plutonium at the
Kerr McGee Corp.
Christie lawyers say they in-
tend to bring evidence they have
uncovered to the attention of the
Independent counsel to be ap-
pointed In the Iran-contra affair.
Among those named in the law-
suit besides Secord and Hakim are
Theodore Shacklev. former deputy
director of the CIA in charge of co-
ve" Operations, and his deputy.
TYiomas Clines; retired Maj. Gen.
John Singlaub. chairman of the
World Anti-Communist L
eague
and active in assisting the con-
tras: Rafael Quintero, a Cuban ex-
lfe and CIA contract employee dur-
ingtheabortedBayofPlgsInva-
sion ; John Hull. an American
businessman who owns a ranch
in Costa Rica that allegedly served
as a staging area for CIA-supplied
weapons for the contras
a
d
:
n
Rob
-
ert Owen. a Virginia businessman
and consultant to the State De-
partment who allegedly served as
North's liaison with the contras
the Tcharges ands at av hearing
Monday in Miami on a defense
motion to dismiss the case l
,-
aw
yers for the defense characterized
the charges as nothing more than
"malicious gossip.
Many of the defendants in the
Christie suit are former associates
of Edwin Wilson. the ex-CIA oper-
auve now serving a lengthy feder-
al prison term after his co
nviction
of shipping weaponry to the Lib-
yan leader. Col. Moammar Kha-
dafy. in the 1970s. In his affidavit.
the lead Christie attorney. Daniel
Sheehan. names Wilson as one of
at least 79 witnesses who are sup-
plying the plaintiffs with e,,i-
dence. particularly against Shack-
ley and Clines. his former associ-
ates in the agency and In private
business.
h
n tryi ng to estbih
t
e tra
work andtnme-
Pastora bombin wti ch the
p4 ntiffs allege that thPrr v the
flMnced contra supply pately
team ' opeerration
Isrooted In a ' secret
" whos,,
core group was Shacklev and
Clines and which later inrtuced
Secord. Wilson. Hakim and rth.
ers. Sheehan argues that this
group, disillusioned by what it
perceived as the isolationist bent
of Congress and the vicissitudes of
Ameriea-n democracy, used -nil-
114ns of dollars in profits Zenerat.
edby narcotics trafficking to wage
secret. unauthorized terrorist
wars against communist groups
in Cuba. Vietnam. Laos. Iran.
Chile. Libya and Nicaragua.
As deputy chief of the CIA sta-
tion in Laos in 1965. Shacklev
and his deputy, Clines. helped
forge an alliance with Meo tribes.
men and, through air and other
tactical support. helped one Meo
faction gain a monopoly on opium
trafficking, the suit alleges, In re-
turn for this assistance. the ten
leader turned over a percentage of
the drug profits to the CIA.
The suit alleges that the
Shacklev group skimmed rilonev
from this fund and funneled ii to a
secret bank account !n Australia
controlled by Shackle.. Clines and
Secord, who had helped run the
C:A s secret air war ;n Lacs from
1966-1968 and that periodically
Sec ;rd and C. ;Iles would carry
suitcases of cash to Australia
Before the fall of Saigon in
1975. the Shacklev group also svs-
CorTt -,- ,
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100230001-8
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100230001-8
tematically pilfered a large weap-
ons cache from US stocks in Viet-
nam and hidden it in Thailand.
according to the affidavit, where ,t
was later used in other ''off line'
operations. One country where
the group was active, according to
the affidavit, was Iran, where Wil-
son. Secord and Hakim. who rep-
resented US business Interests un-
der the shah, were based !n the
late 70s
In 1979. after the overthrow of
the shah and Shackles s and
Clines forced resignation from the
CIA because of their dealings with
Wilson, most of the network went
private, though Secord was still In
the Air Force as director of inter-
national programs By 1979. the
suit alleges. Shacklev. Clines. Wil-
son. Secord and Hakim had cre-
ated a number of corporations
and subs;diartes around the world
to conceal their operations. which
would later ;nclude aid to the con-
tras and selling arms to Iran.
z
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100230001-8