U.S. denies kidnap plan

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 10

U.S. denies kidnap plan

NZPA-Reuter Washington

The United States said yesterday it had no plan to kidnap the Panamanian strongman, : j General Manuel Antonio Noriega, and denied that VicePresident, George Bush, had suggested it.

In a television interview on Monday, as he was being questioned about how General ] Noriega could be forced to face criminal charges handed down by Unifed States grand juries, Mr Bush referred to the seizing of a suspected Lebanese hijacker by United States agents in the Mediterranean. '

“You have seen it in a couple of terrorist cases lately ... No, do not: be

surprised,” he said, but added that he was not advocating such steps against' Genera! Noriega. A White House spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, told reporters he saw no implication in the statement of a United States ' plan to kidnap General Noriega, whom Washington is trying to force out of power in favour of a democratic Government. Mr Fitzwater said Mr Bush’s staff said “he never implied that.” “Should (Noriega) come under the purview of the U.S. justice system, he would be arrested as the indictment would indicate. But otherwise there is no such action contemplated," the White House spokesman said.