Ex-CIA Officer, Duane Clarridge, Cited on 7 Counts

flUtellt. nut cum papers tried by the prose- Ex-CIA Officer, cution reflect grand jury testinmy.contra- dicting the former officer add giving new ; details as to his contacts with Col. North Duane Clarridge, leading up to the shipment. Chief among these is a Nov. 19, 1985, meeting between Col. North, Mr. Clarridge and Vincent Cited on 7 Counts histraro, a second CIA officer, at a Vir- ginia restaurant and lounge that became a favorite watering hole for Col: North's net;i By DAVID ROGERS ,,rork of operatives., Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL "During this meeting, Lt. Col. North WASHINGTON — Duane Clarridge, a . discussed with the defendant. , and .Mr.. former top Central Intelligence Agency of- Cannistraro the trouble that Lt. Col. North ficer for Europe and Central America, was Was having obtaining flight olearances charged with lying to Congress and a pres- Europe for an aircraft that 'Would, be trav-1 idential commission regarding his knowl- eying to Iran," according to the indictMentl edge of the Iran-Contra .affaii. .,'Lt. Col. North stated at the time that the, —The seven-count indictirienr, which car cargo-would 'be military `equipment." tries charges of perjury and, making false Both Col. North and Mr. Cannistraro hf ;statements, alleges that:Afr;',. have appeared before the grand jury that ',sought to , conceal ;j he, brought 'yesterday's indictment, and the lion's rote in a secret arms s pment to papers contradict Mr. 'Clarridge's claim :Iran in November 1985 and repeatedly lied that he didn't know weapons involved; as to ivhen he learned of the nature of the before the flight was uncief liaifive to six' days later. When he testified before the The shipment carrying U.S. Hawk anti- Senate Intelligence Committee, for _exam- aircraft missiles; relies israel4liddl ble„Mr..Clartidge said he believed at the ;men. But a CIA kotafe . time that the, cargo was oil-drilling equip- tapped to carry the'-,andOffiCers fnent —a cover story used la` the 'opera-, 'In Europe helped the flight Mr. Lion—and he portrayed the transaction as al Clarridge was a close ally to then National ; ;'straight commercial deal" with no major; *Security Council 'aide, Lt.—Cot. 'Oliver ; kovernment involvement. Borth, and as chief of the CIA's European Though the charges focus on his in- ;division, he played"a direct ivie in carry- iolvement with arms sales to Iran, Mr. g out these arrangeinents on behalf of his ; •clarridge's relationship with Col; North piend and the White, was far broader and included a shared 1 The shipment laid the, groundwork for commitment to the Contras, or Nicaraguan 'much of what followed in the Iran-Contra insurgents who ultimately benefited from affair as the Reagan adininistration soon , the profits generated by the shipments. glirectly involved deaf in the sale of arms Mr. Clarridge :headed , the CIA's Latin to Iran and the diversion of profits to fund America division in the early 1980s and, on anti-Sandinista forces in Nicaragua. When occasion, traveled in the ,region under the the scandal broke in late 1986, the Novem- ' code name "Mr " While other CIA ber 1985 shipment came back to haunt high ! -Officers have " ' as disdainful goveriunent officials. And the charges now Of Congress, his temperament was out- reflect a continued effort by independent wardly defiant, and his aggressive tenure icounsel Lawrence Walsh to show that CIA is best remembered ,for the secret mining officers were used in an attempted cover- of Nicaraguan harbors in 1984. up. William McDaniel, Mr. Clarridge's at- a 14A' torney, said his client would be proven in- 4 - • vtl lc)1fl r) I Coe ( .

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