News In Brief

November 23, 1984

Nicaragua-bound ship left MIGs in Libya, report says

A Soviet freighter unloaded a cargo believed to be MIG-21 jet fighters in Libya before crossing the Atlantic and docking in Nicaragua earlier this month, Jane's Defence Weekly said Wednesday.

US news reports had quoted Reagan administration sources as saying the Soviet freighter, the Bakuriani, might be carrying MIGs that had been loaded at a Black Sea dock in October. The freighter arrived at Nicaragua's Pacific port of Corinto Nov. 7. US intelligence sources had indicated that warplanes were never unloaded.

Jane's Weekly, quoting unnamed US sources in Washington, said the Bakuriani had loaded the type of crates used for MIG fuselages and that it ''had been observed unloading similar crates for Libya before proceeding to Nicaragua.''