ABRAMS SAYS HE "HONEST BUT WRONG"
Assistant Secretary of State Elliott
Abrams said he was "completely honest and completely wrong" when
he gave assurances last October that the U .S. government was
not involved in a flight by a contra supply plane downed over
Nicaragua.
    He was being questioned by the congressional Iran-contra
panel about testimony he gave to the House Foreign Affairs
Committee on October 15, 1986, saying no U.S. intelligence,
defense or other government official was involved in the
flight.
    "I made those statements and I made a similar statement on
October 14 to Secretary (of State George) Shultz. And every one
of those statements was completely honest and completely wrong,"
Abrams testified.
    Two of the crew of the downed aircraft, operating out of El
Salvador, were killed. The third, Eugene Hasenfus, was
captured, tried and sentenced to 30 years' jail, but later
released by the Nicaraguan authorities.
    Abrams -- the highest-ranking member of the administration
to testify in five weeks of televised hearings -- said he did
not remember how he learned that the plane had been shot down,
but thought it was probably from the CIA.
    He said he made public statements within a couple of days
that there had been no U.S. government involvement after making
inquiries of the CIA, the National Security Council and the
Pentagon.
    "Everybody said, not only then but later, that there was no
U.S. government role," he said.
 Reuter
