FIGURES IN IRAN ARMS CASE ARE NAMED IN FLA. LAWSUIT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100250004-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: December 17, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000100250004-3
A~F 7 L]ecerrcer1986
Figures in Iran arms case
h
are named
lawc
in BY Ben Bradlee Jr. The suit Is being brought by a ?
Globe St cr
Two central figures in the Iran-
contra affair - retired Air Force
Ma). Gen. Richard Secord and his
Iranian business partner. Albert
Hakim - are part of a renegade
team 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
affidvalt filed this week in a little-
publicized federal lawsuit in .Ml-
ami.
throe
e231n White House,
-
C~1tIIC11 a Id ~ ~
`~
~~oped
i7rnu rn ,,. the Second
aid and to help facilitate the secret
sale of arms to .an the lawsuit
The charges are spelled out in a
95-page atfid led Honda, in
aulL urou nt
b Toni Avlrgan an
art a
HpIIev. husband and wife tree-
1anrr In~~r?~i~ . .
form.?r era ... ".`~?~
and military o Iola s
The lawsuit. filed in May after a
---?? +aw~a u~ l Gsta Hlca
f ve Mans xere i
and two dozen in tired. Inc u n
A
ver an and Honey. astora was
alle 1v Target or assasa na-
.I
am -CIA.
The suit 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 diverstor 'f profits from
Iran arms sales ;, Lhe contras.
autute, a itoeral Catholic public
Interest law firm and policy center
best known for winning a $10.5
million libel verdict for the family
of Karen Silkwood, the nuclear
worker allegedly contaminated
while handling plutonium at the
lRrr 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 Shackle,, former deputy
director of the CIA in charge of co-
vert operations, and his d
eputy,
Thomas Clines: retired Ma). Gen.
John Singlaub, chairman of the
World Anti-Communist League
and active In assisting the con-
tras: Rafael guintero, a Cuban ex-
Ile and CIA contract employee dur-
ing the aborted Bay of Pigs Inva-
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: and Rob-
ert Owen, a Virginia businessman
and consultant to the State De-
partment who allegedly served as
North's liaison with the contras.
The defendants have d
ented
the charges, and at a hearing
Monday in Miami on a defense
motion to dismiss the case, law-
yers for the defense characterized
the charges as nothing more than
"malicious gossip."
Many of the defendants in th
e
Christie suit are former associates
of Edwin Wilson, the ex-CIA oper-
ative now serving a lengthy feder-
al prison term after his conviction
of shipping weaponry to the Llb-
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
deuce, particularly against Shack-
ley and Clines, his former associ-
ates In the agency and In private
business.
FILE ONLY
-1c ime-
work and context in w
hicha the
P-astora bombing occurred. the
P lntiffs allege that the privately
fimneed contra supply operation
Isrooted in a "secret team" whose
core group was Shackle, and
Clines and which later Included
Secord. Wilson. Hakim and oth-
ers. Sheehan argues that this
group, disillusioned by what it
Perceived as the Isolationist bent
of Congress and the vicissitudes of
Amerfe&A democracy, used mIl-
liCns of dollars In profits general.
Baby 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 Lang in 1965. Shackle,
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 yeo
leader turned over a percentage of
the drug profits to the CIA.
The suit alleges that the
Shackled group skimmed roonev
from this fund and funneled It to a
secret bank account !n Australia
controlled by Shackle,, Clines and
Second, who had helped run the
C,'A s secret air war ;n Lac from
1966-19138 and that periodically
Second and Genes would carry
suitcases of cash to Australia. ?
Before the fall of Saigon in
1975, the Shacklev group also svs.
Corrt:%
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000100250004-3
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000100250004-3
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 Shacklev 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. Shackley. 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 2011/12/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000100250004-3