The World - News from April 24, 1989

The Senate Intelligence committee last year rejected a covert plan approved by President Ronald Reagan that called for a U.S.-supported coup by dissident military officers to oust Panama’s strongman, Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, the New York Times reported. Quoting unnamed U.S. officials, the paper said the plan was rejected on the ground that it might lead to the assassination of Noriega. Americans are barred from participation in assassinations under a presidential order. The paper said that the meeting, probably held last July, was a key event in the Reagan Administration’s ill-fated efforts to oust Noriega, who is under indictment in the United States on drug trafficking charges.