OFFICIALS SAY IRAN TOP TERRORISM SPONSOR

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 24, 1993                   TAG: 9303240124
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
OFFICIALS SAY IRAN TOP TERRORISM SPONSOR
Iran is the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism and remains a threat to Americans abroad, current and former U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Vincent Cannistraro, former director of the CIA's Center for Counter-Terrorism, said U.S. intelligence has "strong evidence that Iran has made a new decision to initiate acts of terror against Americans" in Europe and the Middle East.
He cited as evidence the arrest in February in Jordan of two men belonging to a Muslim extremist group controlled by Iran and who were crossing the border from Syria with two automatic rifles and ammunition.
Under questioning, the two said they were members of Hezbollah Palestine whose mission was to kill Americans in the Jordanian tourist town of Petra during the visit of Secretary of State Warren Christopher last month, Cannistraro said. - Associated Press
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB