CIA REPORTEDLY GOT OK TO SPIRIT SUSPECTS TO U.S.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504890008-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: February 21, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000504890008-1
V
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PA6
CIA Reportedly
Got OK to Spirit
Suspects to U.S.
B JACI
and NALD J. OSTROW.
Thies Staff Writers
WASHINGTON-President
Reagan signed a secret directive
last year that authorizes the CIA to
seize suspected terrorists in foreign
countries and return them to the
United States to stand trial. gov-
ernment officials said Friday.
The directive, officially called a
"finding," also authorizes other
covert actions against terrorists.
including preemptive strikes
against those believed to be pre-
paring for an assault, the officials
said.
The document was signed in
January, 1986. about the same time
that Reagan signed another secret
finding that authorized the sale of
arms to Iran as part of a plan he
said was aimed at establishing
relations with moderate elements
in Iran and seeking that country's
help in securing the release of
American hostages held in Leba-
non.
No Terrorists Seized
Officials said no terrorists have
been seized so far under the direc-
tive.
The Wall Street Journal. which
disclosed the existence of the direc-
tive Friday, reported that Reagan
signed it despite "fierce opposition
from some officials in his Adminis-
.ration and in the CIA and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation."
The Journal said the most vocal
advocates of the abduction strate-
gy, which reflected the Adminis-
.ration's frustration over its inabil-
ity to bring suspected terrorists to
justice. were CIA Director William
J. Casey. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese
III. Secretary of State George P.
LOS :ANGELES TIMES
21 February 1987
tive. But he said through a spok -
man that any such actions must
"weighed carefully."
"Constitutionally, few f
Shultz and Lt. Col. Oliver L. North,
a former White House National
Security Council aide.
Shortly after the directive was
issued, a National Security Council
subcommifiee headed by North
rejected the use of abduction when
considering a Justice Department
proposal to find and kidnap three
suspected terror sts, sources told
The Times. North was fired in
November for his role in the Iran
arms sales.
The Justice Department pro-
posed abducting the three men
indicted for the June, 1985, hijack.
ing of Trans World Airlines Flight.
847 to Beirut, sources said. During
the hijacking, Navy diver Robert
Dean Stethem, a passenger on the
aircraft, was beaten and shot to
death.
In the decision to reject the
Justice Department proposal, there
was no discussion of the presiden-
tial directive authorizing such ab-
ductions, a source familiar with the
matter said,
A State Department official told
The Times that Reagan issued the
finding to protect CIA agents in-
volved in such operations from
civil lawsuits here or abroad by
making it clear they were operat-
ing under U.S. government orders.
A Problem for Agents
U.S. law enforcement authori-
ties-a category that does not in-
clude CIA agents-already had op-
erated under such protection, the
State Department official said. Un-
der American law, defendants in
criminal cases already were subject
to being spirited out of foreign
countries and returned to the Unit-
ed States for trial.
"That doesn't mean it's legal."
said the official, who spoke on
condition he not be identified, "but
the courts have consistently denied
the right of defendants in criminal
cases here to have their cases
dismissed because of the manner in
which they were arrested and
brought back.
"At the same time. there could be
a serious problem for American
agents who seize somebody over-
seas because they might be violat-
ing laws of foreign countries. At
least this directive would make it
clear the agent is acting imder
orders of the U.S. government.'
FBI Director William H. Web-
ster, who voiced doubts about any
abduction strategy before the di-
rective was adopted, declined to
comment on the presidential direc-
any-issues would be raised," said
Webster. a former federal appellafk
FILE ONU
judge. But such actions must be
considered in light of possible dam-
age to U.S. relations with countries
where the abductions took place as
well as with third countries, he
said.
A long line of court cases, includ-
ing an 1866 Supreme Court deci-
sion, have upheld the power of U.S.
law enforcement authorities to re-
sort to abduction and other extreme
means to bring back fugitives from
foreign lands.
Rights Not violated
Regardless of how defendants
were brought to American shores,
the Supreme Court held in that
ruling more than a century ago,
their rights to due process under
U.S. law have not been violated as
long as they are properly indicted
and tried in the United States.
As recently as last year. U.S.
courts raised no objections when
Rene Martin Verdugo, an accused
drug dealer wanted in connection
with the slaying of Drug Enforce-
ment Administration agent Enri-
que S. Camarena, was abducted in
Mexico and brought to the United
States.
Verdugo was abducted by sever-
at former Mexican police officers,
blindfolded and driven from San
Felipe, a Baja California resort
town, to Meadcali. where he was
shoved through a hole in the border
fence into the hands of U.S. author-
ities. U.S. officials acknowledged
paying the abductors $32,000 in
cash for delivering Verdugo.
Similarly, in 1982, Edwin P.
Wilson, the former CIA agent who
provided terrorist training for Lib-
yan forces. was lured from Libya to
the Dominican Republic, which
promptly sent him to the United
States.
Wilson was persuaded to leave
his haven in Libya and travel to the
Dominican Republic by associates
who were acting in collusion with
U.S. marshals. Cooperating Domin-
ican authorities told Wilson his
travel papers were not in order and
helped place him aboard a New
York-bound plane. Once in the
United States, he was arrested by
marshals who had been shadowing
him.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000504890008-1