'YOU HAVE NO PROOF'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505130009-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 20, 2010
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: December 27, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

~ Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/20 :CIA-RDP90-005528000505130009-0
R'ASIiINGTON - Oa Nor. 9, the
day before l.eeaid Brezhaev died, lta1-
ian Interior Ministez Virginio Rognani
received a visit from the C.I.A.'s vice
chief of station is Rome sad a staffer
from the U.S. Senate Intelligence
Committee. The Americans wanted to
knave about the Bulgarian connective
to the shooting of the Pope.
Mr. Rogaani explained that Ali
Agra, the Tluidsb ,e **T}19i1. had hem
informed a few months before thai
Italy could not afford the cost of keep-
ing him fa solitary contiaemeat much..
longer. To Mr. Agra, that meant he
would be transferred to as ordinary
prison and would Promptly be mur?
dered. That induoad him to talk about
the Bulgarian Govezttmmt ol8eials
who hired him to kill the Pope.
..what proof do you have?? asked
the C.IA man.
The man is charge of Italy's iater-
aal seturiry laid oust the facts: that the. ,
gunman was scold-blooded killer for
hire, and not a fanatic or ideologue;
that be was able to pass into Bulgaria
easily ve as Indian passport-and take
up residence in a fizst-class hold,
which requires secr+ct service knowl-
edge ; that be catered pe~iless sad
came out with 550.000 from what is
hardly a land of opportunity; that he
was able to describe accurately the
living quartos of the Bulgarian offi-
cials who ~wert his coatsoLs sad coa-
tacts; sad that a flurry of electronic
communicative came out of the Bul-
garian Embassy 'just before the . at-
tack wthe Pope. similar w the ea
tiviry that took place before an Ameri-
eaa general was abducted.
Tbt C.lA man waved that all
aside. "You have no proof,', ht said,
sad did his best to ~'cY w the ltal-
iaa G+avernmeat a high degree of skep-
ticism from the American Goveta-
meat.
''what Proof do yw ~vaat?" asked
Mr. Rognani. The dreumstaatial evi-
deaoe alreaQy presorted. along with
some mere that the gitamaa wan ea- .
petted to reveial. was the best that
A'EI' YORK TI2~S
27 DFCEI/~Bt~.'R 1982
ESSAY this ston!~ why are we setting ~oe;r.
selves standards of proof that the
`You I-Iav
So~~et bloc a-i11 make impossible to
meet?
^ One reasarn is humanly iastitutioa-
e al: most spooks, aher the C.lA's IIat
+ rock was flipped over in the pos;-
N o iVatergate ern, don't want anybody to
think that assassiastive is past of arty
nation's ''dirty tricks," and so they
come to the defense of the K.G.B. is
Proof
grand le Cam fashion, hinting that
the evidence is part of as a~-Aadro-
Pte' Plot:. (Aa ezceptiw is former Di-
rector of Central Intelligmce Richard
Helms who was pointing a fxa
er at
By w1u131~1 S`afITC
g
this "classic intelligence oPeratioa"
fivm the start)
could be garnered w a covert' ope:rs- Another reaaw has to do with the
flan I3obody would come forward wo:idags of the American press:
with a fingerprint of Yuri Aadrapw w where does a story of such magnirixk
the gun, but it was certain that ao such come off being b:+~lcor is the Readers'
missive could be tmdtrtakor without Digest, sad developed in dash by
the permission o! they K.G.B., then NBC, a inert television network?
headed by Mr. Andropov. Such a story need. esablishme~t b
According to one report of the meet- gitimacy; only a major ne~wspapes
fag, the C.1.A. representattve ooatin- can properly Provide that
ued to view with distaste the coaclu- Theo there is the boggiea-eat fat.
sioas being reached by the Italian ia- tor: the story of the spymaster who
vcstigators. Meanwhile, is other caps- gave the order to k~Il the Pope sad
talc -end is washit?gton -middle- thereby saved Poland from Solidasity
level C.IA men with jotzraalistic con- sad rose to the top in the Kremlin -
tatzs have been pooh-pooping the that's a large lump of iatormatiw w
story. In Rome, U.S. foreign service digest Evil so audadous is tmbeliev-
officers have hem telling Italian dtp- able. .
lomats that the taveatigatiiw is sa ta- The oeat:sl reawn for the shameful
teraatiooal rduaaaoe to urge the Italians w is
Thus, the Italian Government fvuad political: we have to deal with this
itself purstriag a case that caused it to man Aadropos, say our doves, sad ii
strain relations with a Communist the chain of aramsstsaoe is drawn
neighbor sad profotmdly offend the too tight we might not be able:o trust
neR soviet leasder without the moral the Soviets or arms control. .
support of the gv~erameat of the That far of not being able tiD bring .
United Sues. The larlradaisicai atti- back dttente motivates most of those
trade of most oI the US. press on this who wish this awful nail of eitratm-
subject throughout the earlywinter - stance would vanish. we know
especially after the man who had to ugh; they do not want to know nay
have at least guilty kmwledge of the more.
plot was elevated tiD the tap post in the Tbat is why, 'nicer !ear are prs
Kremlin -was seen by Italisas as sorted which compell cannon sense
further evidence that the U.S. wanted ~ to lay the acme at the Kremlin door.
the iavestigatiioo shut do7vn. we will bear the laoelas . offidals
Why do we require wags to tooth oomplaim. "you have m proof." .
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/20 :CIA-RDP90-005528000505130009-0