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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 14, 1990                   TAG: 9006140040
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MIAMI                                LENGTH: Short

LAWYER ALLEGES U.S. HIDES FILES FROM NORIEGA

A five-page list found by a private investigator shows that during the U.S. invasion in December, the Army confiscated dozens of file cabinets, said Michael O'Kane, attorney for Noriega co-defendant Daniel Miranda.

O'Kane said the file cabinets contained Panamanian G-2 intelligence files, weapons import-export records, confidential correspondence and files on Noriega foes who plotted a coup.

The list is far more extensive than an inventory turned over to the defense by the U.S. attorney's office, O'Kane said.

"This [government] inventory is a fabrication," O'Kane said before he filed a motion Wednesday to force the government to hand over a revised list.

Attorneys for the ousted Panamanian dictator have insisted that many of his activities were sanctioned by the United States. They have said that U.S. and Panamanian intelligence records would show he cooperated with the CIA and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The prosecution's shortened list violates an order by U.S. Magistrate William Turnoff for the government to provide the defense with a complete list of documents seized during the invasion, O'Kane said.