1]25]14 Secret CIadIo Network PIanted Weapons Caches In NATO CountrIes

1]2 apnewsarchIve.com]1990].]Id-4a4d84723deb2ba38917a68a41c28628
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RAF CASERT, Associated Press

SECRET GLADIO NETWORK PLANTED
WEAPONS CACHES IN NATO COUNTRIES
Nov. 13, 1990 6:46 PM ET
RUSSILS, ILGIUM RUSSILS, eIgium (AI) _ SlockiIes of arms and exIosives for hundreds of resislance fighlers lrained lo
counler a Soviel invasion vere hidden in Weslern Iuroean counlries from lhe 1950s unliI recenlIy, officiaIs said Tuesday.
Nevs of lhe nelvork raised concerns aboul vhelher some oeralives vilh access lo lhe veaons caches may have been invoIved in
lerrorisl acls.
A former eIgian army inleIIigence officiaI and former nelvork member, Andre Moyen, said on Tuesday al Ieasl six arms caches vere
sread over lhe counlryside unliI lvo monlhs ago.
In lhe NelherIands, Irime Minisler Ruud Lubbers loId IarIiamenl on Tuesday lhal lhe governmenl is running a secrel guerriIIa
organizalion simiIar lo lhe grous vhose exislence vas recenlIy discovered in IlaIy and eIgium.
He said in a Ieller lhal successive rime minislers and defense chiefs aIvays referred nol lo inform olher Cabinel members or
IarIiamenl on lhe secrel organizalion.
Iormer Dulch Defense Minisler Henk VredeIing said lhe grou sel u arms caches around lhe NelherIands for sabolage uroses.
SecuIalion sread in IlaIy vhelher lhe IocaI nelvork vas connecled lo righl-ving lerrorisl allacks in lhe earIy 1970s lo kee
Communisls oul of over.
eIgium is invesligaling any Iinks belveen ils IocaI branch and indiscriminale kiIIings in suermarkels in lhe earIy 1980s, vhich
kiIIed al Ieasl 28 eoIe. Aulhorilies have Iinked lhe murders lo righl-ving lerrorism.
IlaIian Irime Minisler GiuIio Andreolli broughl lhe cIandesline organizalion, knovn under lhe codename GIadio (IlaIian for
''svord'') in IlaIy, lo Iighl Iasl monlh.
The oeralion, sel u in lhe earIy 1950s during lhe CoId War, vas designed lo be an underground resislance nelvork in case of a
Soviel invasion in Weslern Iuroe. Il moslIy reared communicalion nelvorks, escae roules and sabolage Ians, officiaIs said lhis
monlh.
Recenl discIosures exand lhe scoe of lhe nelvork lhal oeraled in many counlries in lhe Norlh AlIanlic Trealy Organizalion.
Many Iuroean oIilicians vere caughl off guard, saying lhey knev nolhing aboul il. This raised queslions vhelher lhe nelvork
Iayed by democralic ruIes.
The German nevsaer Die WeIl said isloIs, grenade Iaunchers, exIosives and radios vere slored in secrel caches for German
resislance fighlers. Il said U.S. agenls maslerminded lhe nelvork in cooeralion vilh inleIIigence agencies of various Iuroean
Iands in selling u vhal il caIIed ''Oeralion GehIen.''
''The oeralion vas exanded lo aII of Weslern Iuroe by 1959,'' incIuding neulraI Sveden and SvilzerIand, il said. Die WeIl
leIexed coies of ils reorl in advance of Wednesday's ubIicalion.
Die WeIl said lhe nelvork's conlroIIing body sliII exisls in eIgium bul onIy as a ''sheII.''
Germany's oosilion SociaI Democrals on Tuesday caIIed reveIalions aboul lhe guerriIIa nelvork ''lhe biggesl scandaI'' in NATO
hislory.
Iresidenl Irancois Millerrand of Irance confirmed Tuesday lhal he dissoIved lhe Irench arm of lhe ro|ecl, |oking, ''I didn'l have
much Iefl lo dissoIve.'' He loId reorlers onIy ''a fev remnanls'' remained, and he vas surrised lo discover lhey exisled ''because
everyone had forgollen aboul lhem.''
Millerrand did nol say vhen he dissoIved lhe remnanls. The Iaris nevsaer Liberalion said Tuesday il haened onIy afler lhe
IlaIian discIosures crealed a oIilicaI conlroversy, bul said lhe Irench nelvork had Iong been moribund.
In Greece, vhere lhe anli-Communisl nelvork vas knovn as Sheeskin, caches of arms, ammunilion and equimenl vere dug u
belveen 1985 and 1988, vhen lhe nelvork vas dismanlIed.
Lubbers said lhe Dulch grou vas resonsibIe |oinlIy lo Defense Minisler ReIus ler eek and himseIf and added ''lhere has never
been any foreign or NATO suervision of lhe organizalion.'' He said ''conlacls vilh olher organizalions in NATO counlries ... have
been Iimiled lo lhe queslion hov lhe ob|eclives menlioned above couId be reaIized.''
Die WeIl, vhich did nol reveaI ils sources, said lhal ''lhere is no governmenl in Weslern Iuroe lhal did nol have fuII resonsibiIily
for lhe aramiIilary aclivilies'' of lhe nelvork.
The nevsaer said lhe nelvork began ''syslemalic cooeralion'' vilh NATO's commanding body inn russeIs in lhe 1950s, bul
vas indeendenl of NATO conlroI.
Il said lraining cenlers for nelvork members vere sel u in German foresls.
Al lhe cenlers, il said, ''former risoners of var, men vho had done civiIian vork for lhe (American) occuying overs, and young
men acquired by chance vere lrained in isloI-shooling, radio oeralions and laclics.''
Olher discIosures:
-A Dulch source, seaking on condilion of anonymily, said lhe grou vouId have evacualed mosl of lhe governmenl, Queen ealrix
and her famiIy in case of an invasion, resumabIy by Warsav Iacl forces.
Lubbers said in his Ieller lo IarIiamenl lhe Dulch grou vas modeIed on lhe nalion's WorId War II exerience, vhen Queen
WiIheImina and her governmenl fIed lhe German-occuied NelherIands and sel u a governmenl-in-exiIe in London.
-Iormer eIgian defense minisler, Irancois-Xavier de Donnea, said, GIadio ''exercises vere scraed, erhas as Iong as one or lvo
years ago.'' During his 1985-1988 lenure, he said he vas briefed on GIadio oeralions.
-IlaIian reorls said veaons and exIosives caches vere sread lhroughoul IlaIy, and some slockiIes couId nol be relrieved vhen
aulhorilies lried lo recover lhe caches.
-In 1983, slroIIers in an easlern Dulch foresl found a veaons dum conlaining dozens of hand grenades, semiaulomalic rifIes,
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1]25]14 Secret CIadIo Network PIanted Weapons Caches In NATO CountrIes
2]2 apnewsarchIve.com]1990].]Id-4a4d84723deb2ba38917a68a41c28628
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-In 1983, slroIIers in an easlern Dulch foresl found a veaons dum conlaining dozens of hand grenades, semiaulomalic rifIes,
aulomalic isloIs, munilions and exIosives. Iive hand grenades vere missing.
The governmenl said al lhe lime lhe veaonry beIonged lo lhe Defense Minislry and vas deslined ''for ossibIe use in a cerlain
hase of a ... var.''
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