Arms prices varied—dealer

Press, 23 February 1987, Page 10

Arms prices varied—dealer

NZPA-Reuter London The Saudi arms dealer, Adnan Khashoggi, says the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency tried to sell the same weapons to Iran at wildly differing prices. Mr Khashoggi acted as middleman- between Washington and .Teheran in the secret arms sales to Iran. In an interview with the “Observer” newspaper yesterday, Mr Khashoggi said the C.I.A. offered the Iranians weapons at cost price, which was onAfifth of the price quoted i®? the

The C.I.A. price was set in an attempt to gain the release of United States hostages being held in Lebanon, Mr Khashoggi added. He said that when the Iranians discovered the discrepancy, “they went mad ... Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the Prime Minister, blew his top ... There was no link between the C.I.A. and the N.S.C. — no co-ordination.” The newspaper . said that N.S.C. officials such as Colonel Oliver North, who was sacked last year by President Ronald

Reagan for his role in the unfolding scandal, apparently hoped to use profits from the operation to finance contra rebels in Nicaragua. Mr Khashoggi also accused United States officials of ruining the venture by concentrating on the hostage issue instead of a need to build a new relationship with proWestern factions in Iran. The White House has said such a relationship was the main aim of the arms deal, with the release of hostages in Lebanon as a possible ex® benefit . .

“Instead of talking about the big issues, about regional policy, they were trading.with bodies,” said Mr Khashoggi. When Mr Reagan’s former National Security Adviser, Robert McFarlane, visited Teheran last year “all he could talk of was hostages,” Mr Khashoggi said. “Of course, the Iranians aren’t going to admit they have anything to do with hostage-taking. He gave them an ultimatum and when they ignored it, he just marched out to his pianolike a military men and Wew away,” he said.