CONTROVERSIAL COLONEL WILL GET NEW DUTIES AWAY FROM CONTRAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201080019-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: July 19, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Si Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201080019-4
, y c VFEARED
FAQ
MIAMI HERALD
19 July 1986
FILE ONLY
Controversial colonel
will get new duties
away from contras
restrictions on CIA and Pe
.
4n
involvement
wrt
the
cc
as.
By ALFONSO CHARDY
Herald Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - A National
Security Council staff member
whose secret links to the Nicara-
guan contra rebels are being
probed by three congressional
committees will be assigned to
other duties, a senior administra-
tion official disclosed Friday.
The official said the plan to
detach Marine Lt. Col. Oliver
North, 43, from the contra pro-
gram he has supervised since 1984
will be formally activated after
President Reagan signs a bill'
giving the anti-Sandinista rebels
$100 million in U.S. aid. That
could occur early next month.
The decision to reassign North
comes amid reports that some
senior Reagan administration offi-
cials have suggested dismissing or
reassigning North in an effort to
defuse the controversy over his
contra role.
A senior official denied Frid
tion into North's activities had
played a_part in his reassienmenr
The official said the move WAS
procedural because a roval of the
new ai program wi a so i t
coordinator superfluous.
But other administration offi-
cials said efforts to head off an
investigation were behind the
decision to "put Ollie back in his
box," as one source put it.
Controversy has swirled around
North, who is deputy director of
the NSC's office of policy develop.
ment and political military affairs,
since it was revealed last year that
he had been in charge of setting up
a private supply network for the
contras after Congress cut off U.S.
financial support in 1984. Con.
i e of the It
gl'ess also prohibited U.S. officials
from direct or indirect involve.
ment with the contras. The cur-
rent congressional, investigation
hinges on whether North violated
that prohibition.
North declined comment. An
official authorized to speak for
him did not specify what North's
new duties would be, but indicated
that he would continue to be
involved in crisis management and,
worldwide strategic planning.
Pressures around North intensi.
fied recently after Rep. Ronald
Coleman, D-Texas, introduced a
resolution of inquiry aimed at
forcing Reagan to disclose infor-
mation on North's contra ties.
An administration official said
Friday that the administration
opposes the resolution.
The official said NSC director
Poindexter will gladly brief con-
gressmen on North's activities but
will deny them access to any
documents. The official also noted
that White House and NSC legal
experts had already conducted a
search for North's records on the
contras and found none.
"There are no documents," the
official said.
He said it is still the White
House position that North dealt
with the "contra account" but did
not violate the assistance ban. "He
provided no tactical military ad-
vice or directly raised any funds
for those guys fighting In the
jungles down there," the official
said.
Despite the controversy generat.
ed by his involvement with the
contras, North is said to be
admired and trusted by Reagan
because the officer has put for-
ward ideas that have given the
United States major foreign policy
triumphs.
A case in point was the October
1985 interception by U.S. F-14 jet
fighters of an Egyptian airliner
carrying the hijackers of the
Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro.
Officials said interception was
North's idea.
Officials also said North played
a key role in planning the U.S.
bombing of Libya earlier this year.
North's first major involvement
with hemispheric policy was the
1983 U.S. invasion, of Grenada.
Officials said North helped to
coordinate invasion plans with the
Pentagon.
North practically took over the
contra program between late
and Mid-1984 after Congress or-
dered the CIA to withdraw.
Besides managing the contra
program, officials said North's
responsibilities included oversight
of such sensitive White House
activities as the Office of Public
Diplomacy and the Nicaraguan
Humanitarian Assistance Office
(NHA% the State Department
agency that disbursed $27 million
in "humanitarian" aid to the
rebels.
The Office of Public Diplomacy,
many of whose original staffers
have left In what appears to be a
State Department effort to dis-
mantle the operation, released
information - sometimes classi-
fied intelligence data - designed
to advance administration policies
in Nicaragua and "demonize" the
Sandinista regime, as one official
characterized its activity.
Other officials said that North
also frequently provided logistical
advice to NHAO on the type of
equipment the contras needed.
Last fall, North reportedly trav-
eled to Honduras to pressure a
balky Honduran regime into lifting
a blockade on rebel supplies.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201080019-4