PENTAGON DOESN'T DENY REPORT SOVIET-MADE WEAPONS FUNNELED TO CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000201160065-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 12, 2010
• Sequence Number: 65
• Publication Date: January 15, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/13: CIA-RDP91-00587R000201160065-3
ASSOCIATED PRESS
15 January 1985
PENTAGON DOESN'T. DENY REPORT-SOVIET.-MADE WEAPONS FUNNELED TO CIA
BY NORMAN.BLACK
WASHINGTON
The Pentagon declined Tuesday to dispute a report that Soviet-made weapons
recovered during the invasion of Grenada ha een turned over to the tral
Intelligence Agency for use by anti-communist insurgents.
Michael 1. Burch, the Pentagon's top spokesman, would not say how many of the
recovered Soviet rifles and accompanying ammunition had been released by the.
Defense Department, or whether ey were sent to the CIA. But he did say some
of the recovered weapons were "transferred to other government agencies."
Burch was asked 'about the arms after CBS reported the intelligence agency had
acquired "most" of the almost 1*0,000 rifles and 5.5 million rounds of ammunition
stored on the island. The weapons were earmarked for U.S.-backed guerrillas in
Nicaragua and Afghanistan, the CBS report said.
"Since the weapons are Soviet-made, they have the added attraction of not
being traceable to the U.S.," CBS added.
Patti Volz, a spokeswoman for the CIA, said Tuesday the agency would not
comment on the report. She did note, however, that Congress has prohibited any
kind of funding or 'aid to the "contras." or anti-government guerrillas in
Nicaragua, "and we are certainly adhering to that policy."
Asked if any of the arms had been sent to the rebels fighting Soviet troops
in Afghanistan, she declined comment.
CBS, citing unidentified sources, said the CIA had hoped to transfer the
Grenada weapons to the contras at no cost, "but the Senate Intelligence
Committee objected, arguing that the CIA was trying to evade the ban on
spending for the secret war against Nicaragua."
Burch declined to specify how many weapons had been turned over to "other
government agencies," but made it clear the Pentagon had retained some of the
inventory.
After the weapons and ammunition were transported to the United States, he
said, they were transferred to the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland
for use in U.S. military training programs.
Burch also said some of the recovered weapons had been left in Grenada,
either "for (the use of) the Grenadan government" or because they were damaged
and inoperable.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/13: CIA-RDP91-00587R000201160065-3