U.S. Denies Angola Crash Parallels Nicaragua Incident

The State Department denied Thursday that the crash of a CIA plane in Angola indicated the United States is acting like the Nicaraguan government it has accused of helping leftist rebels in El Salvador.

Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler refused to confirm publicly, as other officials have said privately, that the plane was on a covert CIA mission to resupply Angolan rebels.

However, she responded to suggestions at a news briefing of a parallel between the crash and a similar incident over the weekend involving equipment that U.S. and Salvadoran officials say had been earmarked by Nicaragua for leftist rebels in El Salvador.

“I would point out to you the fact that there is a regional peace agreement signed by Nicaragua, committing the signatories not to support subversion of neighboring countries. The Nicaraguans are clearly violating this obligation,” she said.

This was a reference to the twin-engine Cessna that went down last Saturday in El Salvador while carrying surface-to-air missiles and other equipment. The Salvadoran government and the State Department charged that the plane originated in Nicaragua but officials there denied the charge.