• U.S.

The Libyan Travel Bureau

2 minute read
TIME

He may have retired from public service, but Oliver North’s past exploits continue to haunt him. Last week U.S. Attorney Henry Hudson tried to convince a Virginia judge to deny bail to an Arab-American businessman who had been involved “in a potential plot to assassinate a high Government official of the U.S.” Administration sources later identified the official as North, who allegedly was targeted for his role in planning the April 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya.

But like many of the retired Marine lieutenant colonel’s tales, the allegations made by Hudson seemed inflated. Mousa Hawamda, a Jordanian American who runs a Washington travel agency, had been arrested, along with seven others, on charges of diverting funds from a Libyan student organization | to bankroll pro-Gaddafi activities. None of the eight was charged with plotting assassination. However, Hudson told U.S. Magistrate Leonie Brinkema that Hawamda was a Libyan intelligence agent. An FBI informant claimed Hawamda had received a request from Tripoli in April 1987 to gather information on “a U.S. official.”

Judge Brinkema was unconvinced. If Hudson did not have enough evidence to charge Hawamda with plotting murder, she ruled, Hawamda could not be denied bail on that charge. He was ordered released on $250,000 bond, but remained in custody pending an appeal by Hudson early this week.

Meanwhile, North and Iran-contra CoDefendants John Poindexter and Albert Hakim won an unexpected ally in their upcoming trial on conspiracy charges. The American Civil Liberties Union announced it had filed a brief supporting the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case because their immunized testimony at last summer’s congressional hearings compromises their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. “The Government had to choose between compelling them to testify before Congress and leaving open the possibility of a criminal prosecution,” said the A.C.L.U.’s Kate Martin. If the motion is accepted, the only defendant to stand trial would be retired Air Force Major General Richard Secord, who testified without immunity.

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