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1 10th Year!
No. 10
C 1986, The Washington Post Company
MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, V
Nicaragua Holding
American as Spy
Prisoner Said to Be Congressman's Brother
By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
MANAGUA,
Nicaragua,
Dec.
14—The
Nicaraguan
government
has arrested as a suspected spy an
American who
is believed to be an
Ohio congressmen’s brother.
The American, whose U.S. pass-
port identified him as Sam Nesley
Hall, 49, was arrested Friday morn-
ing near the Punta Huete military
airfield, about 12 miles north of Ma-
nagua,
Sandinista
officials
an-
nounced Saturday night.
A spokesman for Rep. Tony
P.
Hall (D-Ohio) said today he believes
the captive is Hall’s brother, a self-
styled counterterrorism expert who
the aide said has been a mercenary
in Angola and Rhodesia, now Zim-
babwe.
Hall, who has yet to be charged
formally,
joined Eugene
Hasenfus
as a prisoner of the Sandinistas, ac-
cused of illegal activities in Nicara-
gua
in support of Reagan adminis-
tration policy against the Managua
government. Hasenfus, from Mari-
nette, Wis., was sentenced Nov. 15
to a 30-year prison term for his ac-
i
ilK
knowledged role in delivering arms
to
U.S.-financed
anti-Sandinistaj
forces.
The Reagan
administration
de-
nies any
connection
to
the
rebel;
supply operation.
State
Department
spokesman,
Bruce Ammerman, said it is impos->
sible to identify the detainee or his
;
job because the Sandinista govern-,
ment has refused to permit the U.S.
consul general in Managua to visit,
him. Ammerman said he had no in-
formation on whether a Sam Hall
worked for any part of the U.S. gov-
ernment.
Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Mi-'
guel d’Escoto told reporters Satur-
day night that Hall admitted spying
on Sandinista targets
for a previ-
ously unheard-of private U.S. group,
called the Phoenix Battalion. There'
was no description of this group or
its
leadership,
nor whether
Hall’s
claim about
it was being taken se-
riously by Sandinista authorities.
D’Escoto said Hall was captured
with sketches and maps hidden
in
- his socks. Hall first claimed to be a
writer, the minister related, but lat-
W(\
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.
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WsmKmSm
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Sam Hall, brother of Rep. Tony P.
Hall (D-Ohio) and thought to be
captive, in 1985 photo.
6W
er admitted that he was gathering
intelligence for the private group.
According to D’Escoto, Hall said
the Phoenix Battalion specializes in
military
espionage
in
consonance
with U.S. policy.
The
Punta
Huete
airfield
was
constructed
during
the
past
two
See NICARAGUA, A33, Col. 1
* 063
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