OTHER NEWS - April 30, 1992

U.S. Probes Thomson Arms Sales to Iraq: U.S. officials, reviewing the purchase of a major U.S. defense firm by France’s electronics giant, Thomson, have pressed Thomson for details of its sale of radars, missile defense systems and communications equipment to Libya and Iraq in the 1980s. A Thomson official in this country said the requests for the information came from the Bush Administration and Congress, which are assessing the economic impact and national security implications of the sale of LTV Corp.’s missile division in Dallas. The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to discuss the controversy today as it holds the first of several congressional hearings on the LTV sale. Thomson’s sales to Libya and Iraq were measured in billions of dollars during the 1980s, according to several industry estimates. The sales apparently were legal under French law.