UNCU=.SS!FIED r.r.r BEGIN MESSAGE 20 "'""' SERIAL= UDN=W00(9347) CLASS=UNCLASS!FIED LEY04~ REULB R A BC-USA-ASSASSINATION 11-19 0618 BC-USA-ASSASS!NAT!O~ EX-CIA AGENT CLAIMS HE BOUGHT RIFLES FOR KENNEDY KILLING By DAN cc1: NEW YORK, NOV 19, REUTER - A KAN CLhIKING T~ HAVE BEEN LINKED TO TEE U.S. CENTRAL !NTELL!GENCE AGENCY SAYS IN A NEW SOOK TEAT EE 20UG2T AND CUSTOKISED FOUR RIFLES HE SAYS WERE USED :SY THE CIA AND THE }'.AFIA TO KILL ?RES!DEKT JOHN F. I:ENHEDY. IN ?!~ST EhND KNO~~EDGE: HOW I PbR~IC!PATED IN THE C!A-MAFIA KURDER OF PRESIDENT KENNED!,:: ROBERT MORROW C~~!MS THAT UNDER ORDERS, WHILE ON CONTRACT TO TnE CIA, HE BOUG~T FOUR 7.35 KM MANNLICHER RIFLES AND SUPPLIED SEVERAL CIA HIT MEN W!TE "SOPHISTICATED ELECTRONIC EQUI?MENT TO HELP KILL THE PRESIDENT. IN A LECTURE AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY ON THURSDAY, MO~ROW SAID HE WAS NOT AWARE AT THE TIME THAT THE EQUIPMENT HE SUPPLIED WbS '!' 0 BE l! SE D TC KI LL I: EN NED Y . I THOUGHT THEY WERE TO BE USED AGAINST A HEAD OF STATE IK CENTRAL A~ER!CA,:: HE ShID. ALTHOUGH ~WO WEEKS BEFORE THE NOVEMBER 22, 1963 SHOOTING EE HEARD A RUMOrR THAT A KENNEDY ASSASSINATION WAS IN THE WORKS AT THE CIA, HE SAID HE DISREGARDED IT UNT!L HE SAW ONE OF THE RIFLES HE HAD 3CUGHT SHOWN O~ TELEVISION THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING. I DIDN:T PAY ANY ATTENT!ON UNTIL THE RIFLE WAS SHOWN ON TEE AIR THAT NIGHT,:: HE SAIC, REFERRING TO BROADCASTS OF LOCAL POLICE HOLDING UP A R~FLE REPORTEDLY SEIZED ?ROY. . THEN ! WENT INTO A STATE OF ?ANIC, I WENT TO MY (CIA) ChSE OF?ICER AN;J HE SAID :SHUT UP.::: MORRO~:S CLAIMS ARE ?ART OF A LONG LINE OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUT KENNEDY:S ASSASSINATION AND THE COMMISSION TEAT INVESTIGATED IT, THESE THEORIES CLAIM KENNEDY WAS KILLED BY SEVERAL ASSASSINS, SOME CONNECTED TO THE CIA, SUCH THEORIES WERE THE SUBJECT OF :S FILM JFK,:: WEICH FOCUSED ON ATTE~PTS BY THE LATE NE~ ORLEANS DISTRICT ATTORNEY, , TO CONVICT A BUSINESSMAN AS A CONSPIRATOR !N KEHNEDY:S DEATH, A CIA SPOKESMAN CONTACTED ON THURSDA! SAID: THERE IS NO RECORD THAT ROBERT D. MORROW WAS EVER A CONTRACT AGENT OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.:: BUT MORROW CLAIMED THE AGENCY WAS USING A LINGUISTIC TRICK TO AVOID NAMING HIM. I WAS A CONTRACT EMPLOYEE, NOT AN AGENT, AND I WAS PAID BY THE U.S. ARMY,:: HE SAID. MORROW REFERRED TO OSWALD, LONG THOUGHT TO BE KENNEDY:S UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED ASSASSIN, A PATSY:: IN THE WHOLE PROCESS, WHICH HE CLAIMS LED TO THEN VICE PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON AND FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION DIRECTOR J. EDGAR HOOVER. HE SAID EE HAD HEARD OSWALD:S NAME MENTIONED BEFORE ~EE SHOOTING AS A LOW-LEVEL CIA OPERAT!VE WHO HAD BEEN SENT TO RUSSIA.~: MORROW CLAIMS IN HIS BOOK THAT HE CUSTOMISED THE RIFLES SO THAT THEY COULD BE DISMANTLED, HIDDEN AND REASSEMBLED QUICKLY. EE ALSO CLAIMS THAT HE SUPPLIED CIA OPERATIVE WITH Foua RADIO TR~NSCEIVERS THAT WERE NOT DETECTABLE E! AN! COMMUNICATIONS EQUI?~ENT THEN AVAILABLE ON TEE MARKET. KORROW SAID HIS CIA CASE OFFICER ASSURED HIM AFTERWARDS TEAT HE WOULD EE CLEAN AS A wEISTLE:: AND COULD NOT BE IM?LICATED IN THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT. HE SAID HE DID NOT COME FORWARD WITH ANY OF THE INFORMATION BECAUSE BARNES TOLD HIM HE WOULD BE SENT TO PRISON FOR VIOLATING TEE OAT?. OF SECRECY THAT ALL CIA AGENTS TAKE. MORROW, ES, SAID TEERE EAVE ALREADY BEEN TWO ATTEMPTS ON HIS LIFE SINCE T2E KENNEDY ASSASSINAT!ON .. BUT EE SAYS HE WAS DETERMINED TO WRITE TEE BOOK IN LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT THE DANGER TO HIMSELF AND HIS FAKILY HAS ASATED WITH THE EXPECTED RELEASE OF CONGRESSIONAL FILES ON THE ASSASSINATION. MORROW ALS~ CLAIMS THAT U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH HAD FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ASSASSINATION CONSPIRACY, THOUGH nE D!D NOT S?ECIFY WHEN 3USH, DIRECTOR OF THE CIA FROM 1976 TO 1977, MIGET HAVE BECOME AWARE. OF IT. GEORGE BUSH KNEW EVERYTHING,:: SAID MORROW. REUTER DC ADS JE REUT22:51 11-19 NNNN

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