Teheran hostage tells of spy-plane activities

Press, 6 May 1980, Page 8

Teheran hostage tells of spy-plane activities

NZPA-Reuter Teheran One of the American hostages in the American Embassy in Teheran has said on Iranian television that the United States ran a spyplane operation from Teheran covering India and Pakistan as well as Iran.

The hostage, Staff Sergeant Joseph Subic, jun., who described himself as a Defence Intelligence Agency assistant in the defence attache’s office at the embassy, named officers he said were involved. His statement was broadcast three weeks ago, but an undubbed tape was made available to Reuters by his student captors only this week.

Sergeant Subic said in the broadcast that a Cl2 plane fitted with a concealed camera was kept by the United Staes at Teheran’s Mehrabad Airport until April last year. “It had taken photographs of the country of Iran, India and Pakistan, and these photographs were shipped out of the country,” he said. ‘The spy camera I myself shipped out, two months just before the students came” and overran the embassy on November 4. Sergeant Subic said knowledge of the espionage operation was confined to the ambassador* the defence at-

tache’s office, and Central Intelligence Agency officials. He also outlined the workings of an intelligence computer area beneath the United States Embassy’s supply warehouse. “During the revolution this room and other parts of the bundling were monitoring communications in Iran, monitoring all traffic, TV and anything that was on the airwaves in Iran,” he said. “A lot of information was sent here. This was a major operation by the United States Government.” On the intelligence computer area, he said it was “a vault within a vault.” “This is one of the biggest vaults , in the United States Government. This is almost as big as the one at the Pentagon,” Sergeant Subic added. The vault was due to have its own power supply and was heavily sound-proofed, he said. Sergeant Subic expressed dissatisfaction . with the way President Carter had handled the hostage crisis, and said he had come to learn about crimes committed by the former Shah He alleged the Shah’s Government had been controlled, by the United States Government and . added: “Also, I’ve heard and seen Dictates where certain United States government

I leaders, both past and present, have had many sex - parties ... at a mansion or - palace up in northern TeheJ ran.” > He added: “To me, for government leaders to do J something like this is totally f un-called for.” - Meanwhile, the bodies of , eight American servicemen killed in Iran’s eastern 1 desert nine days ago on an i abortive raid, to free the embassy hostages have been 3 handed over on the first ■ stage of their return to their 1 families. The bodies have beer • transferred to the cus 1 tody of Greek Catholic Archbishop Hilarian Capucci - who has been in Teheran fo. ’ the last week trying to ar- - range for their return to the ; United States. : will then br shipped to Switzerland on ■ their way back to the United 1 States. ■ The Iranian authorities have said they should not be 1 returned to the United ■ States Government. 1 The Syrian-born Arch- , bishop Capucci, who has 1 close connections with members of the Iranian Government, has visited Teheran > twice already this year, both • to visit the hostages and ; take part in diplomatic “ •”«*