
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 9, 1990                   TAG: 9003091826
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

`RAFSANJANI' HOAX CALL DUPES BUSH

President Bush was tricked earlier this year into taking a telephone call from a man who pretended to be Iran's President Hashemi Rafsanjani and who said he wanted to speak about U.S. hostages in Lebanon, the White House said Thursday.

White House officials provided few details of the call, but confirmed the incident after it was first reported Thursday evening on CBS News.

Although the call turned out to be a fake, the fact that Bush agreed to take it is the clearest indication to date of his willingness to become personally involved in discussions over the fate of the hostages.

Bush, according to deputy press secretary Steven Hart, agreed to take the call after "various methods were used" to try to determine if the caller was genuine. Ultimately, however, "it was determined to be a hoax."

- Los Angeles Times

by CNB