PROBE MAY GO OVERSEAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504730002-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: January 9, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08 :CIA-RDP90-009658000504730002-4
iVC.W YUK1C llA1LY NIJWS
~~(.E R~ 9 January 1987
ON P~ ~?
oe
ma
ov
0
er
se
as
Panel mulls checking IranCon in other lands
5 ey f
ARS-ERIK NELSO
.
N
and HARAISON RAINtE
nbwa watronpcon Buren,
WASHINGTON - The
chairman of the Senate's
IranCon committee held
open a possibility yesterday
that the probe of the Iran-
Contra arms deal would ex-
tend to foreign governments,
including Israel, Switzerland,
oil-rich Brunei and possibly
Iran itself.
Meanwhile, independent
counsel Lawrence Walsh
appeared close to asking that
a federal grand jury be
empaneled to delve into U.S.
arms sales and public and
private support for the
Nicaraguan rebels.
Chairman Daniel Inouye
(D-Hawaii) said his select
committee might send prob-
ers overseas as part of its
effort to get a complete pic-
ture of the attempt to sell
arms secretly to Iran and
funnel profits from the sale
to the Contras.
Inouye insisted that any
such travel would be closely
coordinated with the State
Department so that normal
diplomatic channels would
not be circumvented.
Meanwhile, there were
these other developments:
^ Senate Intelligence
Committee sources con-
firmed aCBS News report
that two major deletions
from the panel's secret re-
port on its IranCon probe
centered on portions of the
narrative that could be
embarrassing to the Reagan
administration.
One five-page deletion re-
lated to a meeting last July in
Jerusalem between Vice
President Bush and Amiram
Nir, a counter-terrorism
adviser to the Israeli govern-
ment, during which Nir gave
Bush a detailed briefing on
U.S. arms-for-hostages
swaps. -
Bush's office said the ses-
sion had been arranged at the
behest of Lt. Col. Oliver
North, ousted White House
aide who allegedly master-
minded diversion of cash
from arms sales to Iran to
the Contras in Nicaragua.
A second deletion in-
volved aletter from Israeli
Prime Minister Shimon
Peres to President Reagan,
urging him to continue his
quest to create better rela-
tions between the U.S. and
Iran.
Sen. David Durenberger
(R-Minn) has said he, not
administration officials, au-
thorized the deletions.
However, it was clear that
more than a dozen officials
from the White House, the
CIA, the National Security
Council, the Pentagon and
other agencies had reviewed
the panel's report and it was
sanitized" to prevent disclo-
sure of valuable intelligence
information.
^ More rgystery developer
about the source of the di-
verted funds. Senate Intelli-
gence Committee sources
said the panel's secret report
had concluded that the di-
verted money to the Contras
had not come from Iran but
from middlemen who were
bilked during financing of
the arms deals.
About half the $15.7 mil-
lion put up by financiers led
by Saudi Arabian billionaire
Adnan Khashoggi vanished
after being put into Swiss
bank accounts controlled by
North and his associates,
The Daily News hss re?
ported that committee
sources believed North had
conceived the cash diversion
to the Contras as a "loan"
that would be repaid once
Congress reauthorized mili?
tary aid to the Nicaraguan
rebels.
However, repay~tnent of
the "loan" could never be
made because the Iranian
arms sales and the :diversion
scheme were exjlesed in
November-
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08 :CIA-RDP90-009658000504730002-4