HIGH U.S. OFFICIALS DISCUSS ARMS TO ANGOLA REBELS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100140082-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 20, 2007
• Sequence Number: 82
• Publication Date: May 25, 1978
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/06/22 : CIA-RDP99-00498R000100140082-9
LOS ANGELES TIMES
ARTICLE APPEARED 25 May 1978
ON PAGE 1, 11
U.S. Officials Discuss
'High . - ... . . 9.% . I .
Arm*s Aid to'Angola.xebels:
BY JOHN H. AVERILh...._
Tlmss Staff WT$TN _ . _ .
WASHINGTON-High Adminis- ;
tration officials have discussed- the
possibility of ..resuming U.S. arms
shipments to anti-Communist guer
rillas in Angola, the White House said
Wednesday. ' .:
Press Secretary Jody Powell -said
that President Carter has not yet
made a decision on the matter. s
Powell - said that CIA Director
Stansfield Turner-and David Aaron,
President Carter's deputy assistant
for national security affairs, had dis-
cussed possible U.S. action in Angola!
with Sen. Dick Clark (D-Iowa), au-
thor of the 1975 law banning any di-
rect or indirect U.S. military involve-.
ment.there. ;
Neither Turner nor Aaron, meeting
separately with Clark, attempted to
promote any specific plan, Powell
said. Clark,. at a press conference of I
his own, said Senate rules prohibited
.him from discussing matters- told him
in confidence by the Executive
Branch. .
However, a -iource familiar with
the meetings told The Times that
Turner in 'talking to Clark said the
'Administration would like to provide-
assistance to forces, led by Jonas Si-
vimbi, that are opposing Angola s
Marxist government- ? .
The purpose of the aid, the source;
said, would be to occupy the estimat-
?ed 20,000 Cuban troops stationed in
Angola, preventing them from under-'
taking new adventures in Africa, par-
ticularly the possibility that they
might enter the Rhodesian conflict.
By helping Savimbi, the source-
said, the Administration . thinks it
could "make it less attractive for the
Cubans to involve themselves else-
where." -
'.:71e proposed U.S_ aid to Savimbi
would be charmeled through a third .
country, probably France, the source
Clark told his press conference that
he-would strongly, oppose repeal but
that he did not know what Congress
would do if the President asked that-
`the arrendment.be eliminated..... .
n an interview Tuesday. Clark had
said-that Carter's repeated criticisms'
of:legislative restrictions on foreign
policy had convinced him'that. the
President had decided "to reinvolve
the United States in the Angolan Civil
war" This was disputed Wednesday by
Powell, who rejected suggestions
"that the President has made some
sort of decision to plunge us into the
Angolan civil war.
"I can assure you that. it's not
the case," Powell said.
Powell said Carter had no knowl-
edge of the visits to Clark by Turner
and Aaron. In fact, the press secreta-
ry called it, "a reasonably routine
thing" for an Administration official
with a problem to confer with. "a sen-
ator who is-well known as an expert
;
in. this area and in addition had a par-
ticular interest in a particular mat-
ter-.,
Meanwhile, the Senate Foreign Re.
lations Committee. of which Clark is a'
member, released a study challenging
the impression generated by some.
Administration officials in ? the past
week that the President's foreign pol-
icy flexibility is sharply limited-by a
.host of congressional restrictions.. .
"Applicable statutory restrictions
on military involvement have pre-
sented no obstacle to the achievement
of publicly announced United .States I
objectives in Africa," the study said-
It noted that the only African
countries where U.S.: military 'in-
volvement is expressly barred by law:'
are Angola and Ethiopia. There are,
however, restrictions on economic
assistance to some African nations,
notably Angola. Mozambique and
Uganda. :. a..
Approved For Release 2007/06/22 : CIA-RDP99-00498R000100140082-9
However, for any aid to Savimbi to ;
be legal, repeal of the Clark amend-
ment would be required, and Press
Secretary Powell said the President
had made no decision with regard to
theprovision
STAT