
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 7, 1994                   TAG: 9403070069
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN                                LENGTH: Short

BLUNDERS ALLEGED IN PLAN TO RECOVER U.S. STINGERS

A covert CIA program to buy back U.S. Stinger missiles distributed to Afghan rebel forces during the 1980s has been plagued by failures, miscalculations and wasted money, according to Pakistani and U.S. intelligence sources monitoring the enterprise.

Congress reportedly has authorized more than $65 million in secret funds for the operation over the last three years. That is about twice as much as the United States originally paid for the estimated 1,000 Stingers it provided to the mujaheddin rebel forces in the final years of the war against the Soviet-backed government in Kabul.

Despite the millions, the CIA has recovered only a fraction of the missiles.

The CIA has been eager to find and reclaim as many of the missiles as possible because of international fears that they could fall into the hands of terrorists who would use them against civilian aircraft.

- The Washington Post

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB