GRAY & CO. GIVES UP CONTRACT WITH ANGOLA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000200830001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 29, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 18, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/29: CIA-R
WASHINGTON TIMES
18 'larch 1936
Gray & Co. u
gives p
contract with Angola
By Lucy Keyser
'HE Nn SN G'ON'VES
Less than two months after taking
on the Marxist Angolan government
as a client, the Washington public
relations firm of Gray & Co. said
yesterday it will no longer represent
the regime.
A statement released by the firm
late yesterday noted simply that it
has "completed" its activities with
the Angolan government. But other
events suggest the firm dropped its
new client to satisfy clients who
were disturbed by the connection.
The Moroccan ambassador told
The Washington Times Friday that
he had severed relations with Gray
& Co., which had a $360,000 annual
contract representing Morocco.
But Gray's vice president. Frank
Mankiewicz, said yesterday his firm
still has its Moroccan account.
Members of the Young Conserva-
tive Foundation are taking credit for
Gray & Co.'s change of heart. They
say letters they sent to the firm's
clients helped kill the 520.000-a-
month Angolan contract. Several
YCF members were arrested inside
Gray & Co.'s Georgetown offices last
month when they chained them-
selves to a railing to protest the An-
golan contract.
"W'e sent letters to all of Gray's
clients - the ones who are anti-
communist - telling them what
Gray & Co. was doing:' YCF pres-
ident Lee Bellinger said. \\ think
we were hitting a nerve. We got to
them Gray & Co.I where it hurt -
their claim that they control media
events. That. and inquiries from
their other clients, really hurt them."
"There is absolutely no truth to
that," Mr. Mankiewicz said. His firm
has received no calls from clients
regarding its Angolan contract, he
said.
"And if they've been sending let-
ters to our clients:" Mr. Mankiewicz
said, "we'll be looking into that. In-
ducing a breech of contract is se-
rious. But when you let children play
with Xerox machines. I guess things
like that can happen."
In its press statement, Gray said
its delivery to the State Department
yesterday of a policy message from
Angola "completes our activities tor
the government of Angola."
"We believe we have reopened a
communications window between
the United States and that govern-
ment which - unlike other nations
with which we are in conflict - has
no ambassador here or other diplo-
matic relations:' the release said.
Representatives of the firm met
with top government leaders in An-
gola and later conveyed to U.S. of-
ficials Angola's willingness to nego-
tiate a withdrawal of Cuban troops
... with the withdrawal of South Af-
rica from Namibia [South West Af-
rica] and the end of South African
armed attacks on Angola," the com-
pany said.
The firm said its vice chairman,
Adm. Daniel Murphy, who handled
the account, "worked with determi-
nation to open the communications
window. His actions only can benefit
the established U.S. foreign policy
objectives of a negotiated settle-
ment in Angola." Adm. Murphy is
former commander of the U.S. Sixth
Feet and ormer deputy director of
theme
Gray & Co. announced early in
February that it would represent the
Popular Movement for the Liber-
ation of Angola, which took power in
the former Portuguese colony in
1975 with the help of a Cuban ex-
peditionary force.
The February announcement fol-
lowed a weeklong visit and media
blitz in Washington by freedom
fighter Jonas Savimbi, leader of
UNITA, the National Union for the
Tbtal Independence of Angola. Mr.
Savimbi's group is trying to force the
Angolan government back to the
bargaining table to discuss the 1975
accords on national reconciliation.
Mr. Savimbi's Washington trip, or-
chestrated through a S600,000 an-
nual contract with the Washington
public relations firm of Black,
Manafort, Stone & Kelly, was suc-
cessful in that he won assurance of
"moral support" and perhaps mili-
tary support from the Reagan ad-
ministration.
Both of the public relations firms
have staffs that include former
White House aides and Reagan cam-
paign officials. Letters the Young
STAT
Conservative Foundation sent to
Gray & Coss foreign clients said the
firm's "tawdry deal" with the Ango-
lan government was brought to the
firm by Adm. Murphy, who served as
chief of staff for Vice President
George Bush for five years.
The letters were sent to 11 clients,
including the embassies of Morocco.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Haiti and
South Korea. Other letters went to
foreign businesses that Gray & Co.
represents in Washington.
Reflecting on the brouhaha over
the firm's Angolan contract. Mr.
Mankiewicz said he believes Gray &
Co. will gain business because of it.
"Judging from the atmosphere
around town, people are saying
they're pleased we've taken on this
kind of client. You have to remember
that the only country that supports
Savimbi is South Africa,' Mr. Man-
kiewicz said. (In fact, 12 African na-
tions supply covert aid to the
Savimbi forces.)
Angola's Marxist government
again will be without formal repre-
sentation in Washington, but "nov
they have a lot more friends:' dlr.
Mankiewicz said. "And negotiations,
I assume, will continue."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/29: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200830001-0