Word: safire
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...true, the story was a shocker. Last July the leftist but respected Beirut newspaper As Safir printed what it claimed was a transcript of a conversation between U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Saudi Defense Minister Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz in Paris on May 12, 1983. Weinberger was quoted as saying that he had not informed President Reagan about a Saudi request for 20 F-15 fighters because "it would be leaked to Congress and the press," thus jeopardizing the deal. According to the transcript, Weinberger generously offered his Saudi counterpart a shipment of sophisticated M-l tanks, which...
...Weinberger stoutly denied any connection with the investigation. "What a cheap shot," said a Weinberger aide. Federal officials said the probe stemmed from a stepped-up effort by the State Department to crack down on disinformation. After all the hubbub, the source of the transcript printed by As Safir remains a mystery...
SAMA's coziness with Western bankers, and its safety-first investments, have stirred resentment among the Saudis' poorer neighbors. A leading Lebanese newspaper, As Safir, charged last month that Saudi Arabia was "a hostage of the West" held by "chains of gold." Arab nationalist groups throughout the Middle East argue that more of the Saudi surplus should be invested in the Third World...
...Safir, a leftist Beirut newspaper reported to be close to the Tehran regime, quoted an informed Iranian source as saying, "Agreement has been completed between the U.S. and Iran to resolve the hostage issue. They are expected to be freed on the 25th of this month." Within hours, however, it became evident that the report was false. Behzad Nabavi, head of the Iranian committee that is negotiating with the U.S., flatly denied the report. He also asserted that Washington's proposal in response to one of the Iranian demands, that of allowing U.S. courts to decide the fate...
Both the upbeat As-Safir report and the hasty Iranian denial were received stoically in Washington. Said one senior White House official: "The real problem is that this issue still requires a political decision in Tehran. The political will to end it all simply has not jelled...