News In Brief

Moynihan: data lacking on Nicaragua arms traffic

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has never been given ''conclusive information'' to back up the Reagan administration's charge that Nicaragua is sending arms to El Salvador, committee vice-chairman Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D) of New York said Wednesday.

The issue was raised this week when a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, David MacMichael, said that such claims are based on outdated information and that administration officials are misleading Congress.

State Department and CIA officials have rejected Mr. MacMichael's claims, but they have not released evidence that arms flows are continuing. ''The federal intelligence agency has an obligation to answer Mr. MacMichael with facts,'' Senator Moynihan said.