CIA DENIES SECRETLY AIDING INSURGENT FORCES IN ANGOLA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00845R000200830014-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: October 4, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90-00845R000200830014-0
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WASHINGTON POST
4 October 1983
CIA Denies Secretly Ai&
Insurgent Forces in Ai
By. Don Oberdorfer
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The CIA yesterday-denied a Newsweek report that: it. as secretly
':--=-Qiding insurgent milita Forces in-An
ry~ , goia;+an action that~ould.vio?
_ 4ate a 1976 law prohibiting- such assistance
"We obey the .law, -we do not violate -the-4aw -CIA -spokesman -Dale'
Peterson said in response to questions -about the report. He idenied
Newsweek's statement- that training,. arms and financial ass"istance"
are being given by -the CIA to military* forces in Angola.
Undercover aid to Angolan rebels, :such as the UNI-TA guerrilla
movement headed by Jonas Savimbi, would appear to undercut 11S.
diplomatic efforts-as well as to violate the law. _
The Reagan administration has been attempting to-persuade the
Angolan government to send home Cuban troops in that -country as
part of a regional settlement in southern Africa, including the parallel
withdrawal of South African forces from Namibia.
According to administration sources. -increasing military pressure
by the guerrillas is among the reasons why the Angolan government
so far has been unwilling to accede to the U.S. request.
The tightly drawn 1976 law, known as the Clark amendment, pro-
hibits assistance of any .kind--direct or indirect.-'that has the pur-
pose or effect of helping anyone or any group to conduct military or
paramilitary operations in Angola. The Reagan administration sought
repeal of the Clark amendment in 1981, but-Congress refused.
Newsweek's long article, the cover story of its current issue, said
that tinder the Reagan administration the CIA "is back in the busi-
ness of covert action-with a globs; scope and an intensity of re-
sources unmatched since its heyday 20 years ago."
The magaiine said the administration has presented to congres-
sional intelligence committees official justifications or "findings" to
back up 12 to 14 covert operations in various parts of the world,
seven or eight of them considered "major" covert actions. The number
of covert operatives at CIA has increased to more than 1.000 from a
low of "perhaps 300" in the Carter administration, the magazine said.
. Among the actions described or listed by Newsweek were support
of Iranian exile groups seeking to overthrow Ayatollah Ruhoilah Kho-
meini in Iran, operations aimed at Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Libya,
and aid to military forces in Ethiopia and Sudan.
The magazine said the CIA is "working with the Chinese to supply
arms to the forces of former Cambodian ruler Pol Pot," who is head of
the Khmer Rouge forces. The State Department told a House sub-
committee Sept. 15 that "we do not provide aid of any kind or have
any contact with the Khmer Rouge." State Department spokesman."
Alan Romberg said yesterday that the Sept. 15 statement represents
administration policy. The CIA declined to comment.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90-00845R000200830014-0