CANAL PACT STRUGGLE CHALKS UP A CASUALTY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100080054-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 54
• Publication Date: April 26, 1978
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100080054-4
ARTICLE EiP EARr'I71 WASHINGTON STAR (GREEN LINE)
0X , c? 26 APRIL 1978
mosity o Helms and that of other
treaty opponents when it was re-
vealed last February that Sayre had
warned the Panamanians of circum-
stances that might have led to the
U.S. arrest of Gen. Omar Torrijos'
brother, Moises Torrijos, on narcot-
ics charges.
by other anti-canal treaty senators. nation and is giving widely circulated
Sayre, one of the most experienced ?..TV and press interviews that are
and respected Latin experts in the.- undermining Sayre with the govern-
State Department, evoked the ani- - ment of Brazil.
us
-
ter in which. he might well be joined -
K%JJ=KJl il'i.DAXMr.
make a time agreement on ebate, in Hopes go glimmering
effect setting the scene fora f.1.1%
-?.- .
tion, it usually is because of Senate
While a "hold" by a single senator,,
is not necessarily fatal to a nomina-
pacts. As a result. Helms has put
what the Senate calls a "hold" on the
career diplomat's nomination to be
Panama Canal treaties.
Sayre, 53, last winter incurred the
wrath of conservative Sen. Jesse
Helms, R-N.C., one of the leaders of
the anti-canal forces which came
close to defeating the. controversial
By Jeremih O'Leary
Washington Star Stall Writer
Robert M. Sayre, inspector general
of the Foreign Service, apparently
has become a casualty of the bitter
struggle for ratification of the
Diplomat Paces Hill Punishment
CaI.Pa Strucycrie Chalks U,-,-%
'
objections to the Sayre nomination. State Department officials are now
Informed sources indicated that considerin? whether it would be bet-
Helms also has been in contact with ter to withdraw the nomination.
Brazilian diplomats about the nomi- Some officials at State believe, how-
HELMS WROTE the State Depart-
ment a letter on March 9 outlining his
.Goes on hold ; -
ever, the nomination" should. be
officers abroad are to be expected in
the future to obey orders from Wash
ington.
According to knowledgeable off i is
while he was ambassador to Panama
six years ago.
A New York grand jury in 1972 in
a co-conspirator in a heroin traffick
ing case.
IT WAS. DIVU
session of the Senate Int1ligen
Committee that Gen. Omar
was in orme o t e m ictment by
tug =g enforcement of peer e t e
U`%. government. _Six months latrr.
.lheCIA learned that Moises Torrijos
asaboard a ship about to enter t
El-
privately they are appalled that
Helms has turned the confirmation
process into a personal vendetta
against Sayre.
But they also acknowledged that
there probably is nothing the execu-
tive branch can do to save Sayre's
nomination, even though it has'
White House level that the arrest of
Torrijos' brother would cause more
trouble with Panama than it would'
be worth. .
According to information de-
veloped by the Senate committee, the.
State Department told Ambassador
Sayre in Panama City to alert the
general that Washington knew of his:
brother's travel plans. Moises Torri.
jos got off the ship in Venezuela and
flew in to Panama. = ;.
The administration's. view is that,
Sayre was only. carrying out his.
orders. But Helms sees Sayre's ac-
tions as an obstruction of justice. .
The former ambassador to Brazil.
John Crimmins, ' retired several
months ago when.it.was thought the
respected Sayre would be a shoo-in
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100080054-4