‘C.I.A., bound by new laws, refused aid for Moro hunt’

Press, 26 June 1978, Page 8

‘C.I.A., bound by new laws, refused aid for Moro hunt’

INZPA Washington r Phe American Central Intelligence Agency is reported to have refused or delayed a response to several recent foreign requests for help in dealing with terrorist actions, among them the Aldo Moro kidnapping in Italy and the hijacking of a West German airliner.

According to United, States Government officialsj and members o. the House, and Senate Intelligence Com-! mittees, the C.1.A., in con-! trast to earlier practice, turned down a request from the Italian Government for a psychiatrist trained in terrorist matters and for sophisticated eavesdropping equipment to help deal with the members of the Red Brigades who kidnapped and jkilled Mr Moro, the Christian Democrat leader. > Similarly, the agency was said to have delayed an answer to a West German request for technical assistance in freeing the 86 passengers and crew members aboard a Lufthansa airliner diverted last October to Somalia. Several officials said that the agency’s attitude stemmed from what they dt scribed as an exceedingly cautious reading of prevailing legal curbs on the conduct of covert operations; and on the provision of aid! to foreign police forces.! They blamed the situation on the criticism directed at the C.I.A. over its past activities in Chile and elsewhere. Until now. it was noted, the agency had had a long history of close co-operation

. with foreign police agencies;: iin Western Europe and other): I parts of the world. It was' ! involved in the establish-! (ment of state security ser- I vices in such countries as : Iran and South Korea and i made intelligence specialists : available to several nations during the 1950 s and 19605. The present situation as ! described by officials is indicative of the new prob- ’ ■ lems the American Government is confronting in at- < tempting to enhance C.I.A. I effectiveness while restric- i ting its ability to intervene ji ir the internal affairs of jl other nations. The agency’s reaction to i i lithe Italian and West German requests is said to have led 1 to strains in relations with 1 intelligence authorities in i both countries. It has also < generated concern among . Administration specialists on 1 terrorism and the Congres- i sional intelligence com- : mittees. ' < ; The Carter Administration]] I has given a higher priority ( j jin intelligence policy to ter- 1 j rorism, and specialists report that the agency has 1 stepped up programmes for < exchanging information with < friendly governments to ease c the problem. But, they say, < the agency has avoided a c direct role in such cases as r

i a request by West Germany | for help last October. ! The specialists said that i while a reply to the request fo: aid in Mogadishu, the Somali captial, was delayed in Washington, a West German commando unit, benefiting from British assistance, successfully stormed the airliner and freed the hostages. In the case of the kidnapping in March of Mr Moro, the requested surveillance equipment was not provided, brr the State Department did make available a psy(chiatrist trained to deal with terrorists. Officials said that C.I.A. , legal experts had argued at the beginning of the Moro kidnapping that the agency was prohibited from aiding the Italian police by a 1975 amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act, forbidding the use of foreign aid funds to support foreign police activities. The action was designed to end State Dei partment training programmes for foreign policemen. Some officials suggested that the situation could be clarified by new legislation on terrorism, now being drafted in the Senate, that calls for greater American co-operation with “liker : tided” nations.