CIA LINKED TO SECRET FILES IN ITALY, FOREIGN STUDENT AID

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP69B00369R000200240022-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 16, 2003
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: October 14, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

"IN
Approved For Release 2003/11 Jlt- Fj69B00369R000200240022-4
CIA Linked To Secret Files
1n Italy, Foreign Student Aid
Italy
By THWMAS T. FENTON
[Rome Bureau of Tlse Sun]
Rome, Oct. 13 - An allegedi
'CIA document published here
(today states that the United
States agency urged the Italian
Government to maintain secret
(files on leading Italians.
The 1963 document concludes
that the fact that the Italian
Government- followed Central
Intelligence Agency's advice
"will amply justify the money
?pent on this affair."
Discovery of the existence of
the secret files by an Italian
magaxlne last April produced a
national scandal that resulted
in the firing of the Army chief
of staff.
Government Admitted It
The dossiers which the Gov-
ernment finally admitted were
being maintained by SIFAR,
the Italian equivalent of the
CIA, contained reports on lead-
'ing political, business, intellec-
tual and ecclesiastical figures.;
There was even a report on
the political activities of Italian
President Giuseppe Saragat is.
a Socialist, and SIFAR has been
(Democratic party since World !journalists.
lWar II. When Tambroni, in turn, be-
. After the storm broke in Par-. ;came Premier five years later,,
liament this spring and an of- the transferred the files to a,
ficial inquiry was ordered, the private apartment in downtown,
Government clamped a lid of Rome,
secrecy on. the affair: "Tambroni intended to use'
The allegedly authentic docu- the files against his political'
ment published today by the-. adversaries in order to keep'
left-wing magazine Lastroleabio ,himself in power," the doe-
gives the history of the SIFAR ument states.
affair and the CIA intervention. ; The secret files were trans
Friendly SIFAR Source (erred to a villa in Sardinia;
The magazine published a
photostat of the cover of the
document, which was labeled
"Special Report-Office of Cur-
rent Intelligence-The Situation
in Italy - Central Intelligence
Agency." The document is
marked secret and dated July 5,
1963.
One of the magazine's editors
said tonight the report had been
leaked to it by a friendly source
within SI)rrdved.For Rel
The document states the CIA
believed that the secret files,
which had been unofficially col-
lected and maintained by two
former Christian Democratic
ministers of the interior, would
be used by "unscrupulous per-
sons" for political purposes.
Conceived By Scelba
Instead of urging that the
files be destroyed, the CIA ad-
vised the Italian Government to
take them over and give them
to SIFAR "in order to reduce to
a minimum the number of per-
sons. who could use them." I
According to the document,
Mario Scelba "conceived the
idea of uttin together dossiers
on leading (Italian) "personali-
ties in the political, business,
union and intellectual 'fields"
when he was Minister of the
Interior,
S'celba, who was Interior Mi-
nister for more than seven
years and Premier from Febru-
ary, 1954, to July, 1955, is now
one of the leaders of the right;
wing of the Christian Demo-'
crats, Italy's leading party.
The secret files were expand-:.
ed by Fernando Tambroni, ac-'
cording to the document, whop
set up a news agency as a front;
for gathering more information'
months later. When he died,' '
according to the document, they,
were turned over to Scelba
again.
Uneasiness And Anger
The alleged CIA report said
the ."case of the Tambroni doc-
uments" caused uneasiness and
anger "among a large number
of Italian politicians, including
many of our friends." It was
"quite possible," as some Ita-
lasep(MI i1 'UG]4d, C#i
could fall into `.'unscrupulous"
hands.
The report says there were
"several confidential. exchanges
of views with political personali-
ties," and "it was suggested it
would be highly desirable" to
regain possession of the files
6c9 e3619Rl62?1246
section of SIFAR.