NEWSWEEK'S PHOTOS OF EXECUTION DOUBTED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302050038-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 25, 2012
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: April 24, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/25: CIA
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_ .
Fra.
WASHINGTON TIMES
24 April 1985
-RDP90-00965R000302050038-4
Newsweek's photos
of execution doubted
By Bill Outlaw
and Roaer Fontaine
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The credibility of photos pub-
lished in Newsweek purporting to
show members of the Nicaraguan
resistance killing a Sandinista spy
by slitting his throat was questioned
? yesterday by a number of adminis-
tration officials and a spokesman for
the resistance.
The Newsweek photos were cited
by Sen. Tbm Harkin, D-Iowa, whose
sympathies for the Sandinistas are
well known, during yesterday's
debate over President Reagan's pro-
posed $14 million to fund the resis-
tance groups.
L. ''The pictures show graphically
the same kind of thing I saw in Viet-
' nam," said Sen. Harkin, a Vietnam
veteran, in arguing against funding
? the resistance groups.
The Newsweek story states that
the man who was killed was a San-
dinista spy who had been caught
"reporting rebel locations and
informing on civilians who sold food
to the Contras."
- . Bosco Matamorms, spokesman
1- for the Nicaraguan Democratic
I: Force, the largest of the resistance
groups, said the guerrillas no longer
wear the light blue uniforms shown
in the graphic Newsweek photos.
, Mr. Matamoros and Pentagon offi-
cials also questioned how people liv-
ing in the jungle could have such
clean uniforms.
In the photos, the man who is
killed is shown digging his own
grave. A man identified in the story
as a "Contra" is shown in the next
two photos cutting the man's throat
with a knife, and another is shown
holding a knife over the man's abdo-
men as he lay in the grave. None of
the clothing in the pictures appears
to be dirty.
"How can these men have their
pants so clean while they are on
patrol?" Mr. Matamoros asked.
In addition, he said it is unusual
for soldiers in the jungle to be on
patrol without canteens on their
belts.
One Pentagon official told The
Washington Times the uniforms in
the photos are too clean and the foot-
wear in too good condition for mem-
bers of the Nicaraguan resistance.
Most resistance fighters are
barefooted, the official said. He also
said that in the sequence of pictures,
the killer changed hand positions,
which he said is not normal for
someone to do when a stabbing takes
place.
The official also questioned how
the victim's clothing could be so.
clean after he had dug his own grave
and why a grave would be necessary
if, as the Newsweek story states, the
Sandinista troops were nearby.
The official questioned why, if the
resistance wanted its atrocity hid-
den, it would allow the photos to be
taken in the first place and then let
them be released.
Another defense intelligence ana-
lyst said there Goes not appear to he
enough blood in me photo for some-
one who has had his throat cut.
The photos were taken by k rank
Wohl, 21, who is identified in the
Newsweek story as a "conservative
activist from Northwestern Univer-
sity" who "had been traveling with
the Contras as a noncombatant for
nearly four months."
The Washington Times repeat-
edly tried to reach Mr. Wohl at his
residence in Evanston, Ill. On one
occasion, Mr. Wohl answered the
phone and told the reporter he was
on a long-distance call and to call
him back in a few minutes.
The reporter called back several
minutes later but could get no
answer.
Marc Fisher, president of the Col-
lege Republicans at the Evanston
campus, said he knew Mr. Wohl and
that Mr. Wohl had gone to Nicaragua
and had spent several months with
the Nicaraguan resistance.
Asked if Mr. Wohl was a supporter
of the resistance, Mr. Fisher said:
"He is a very strong supporter of the
Contras." Mr. Fisher said he had seen
the Newsweek photos and was puz-
zled about why Mr. Wohl released
the photos when Mr. Wohl had been
supportive of the resistance.
In the Newsweek story, Mr. Wohl
states he had been "traveling with
the Contras as a noncombatant for
nearly four months!'
The story further states: "The
rebels, [Mr. Wohl) argued, had to kill
or abandon their prisoner, since
guerrillas on the run cannot main-
tain POW camps. The executioners
used a knife instead of shooting their_
victim because Sandinistas were
patrolling the neighboring moun-
tain," Newsweek stated.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302050038-4