Frank Lemay; Warned of Hussein Arms Buildup

Frank Lemay, 36, State Department economist who warned that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was diverting U.S. loans to buy weapons. In 1989, Lemay privately warned his superiors in the office of the undersecretary of economic affairs that Hussein had misused funds from a $5-billion farm-loan guarantee program to buy nuclear equipment. His memo and name were made public last year by Rep. Henry B. Gonzales (D-Tex.) Lemay warned bluntly in the memo: “If smoke indicates fire, we may be facing a four-alarm blaze in the near future.” The White House and State Department denied knowing anything about the farm loan diversion. Lemay, educated at Georgetown, John Hopkins and George Washington universities, worked for the State Department for 12 years, serving in the Dominican Republic and Colombia as well as in Washington. On Thursday in Washington of AIDS.