News stories from Saturday July 24, 1982

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

A Central American intelligence unit was being established by Edwin P. Wilson, a former United States intelligence agent, when he was arrested last month on charges of illegally aiding Libyan terrorists. He was trying to bargain with the government for a reduction in the charges pending against him, and apparently hoped that the White House would underwrite the intelligence operation. White House officials say they were not aware of Mr. Wilson's plans. [New York Times] Mexican industrial assembly plants are turning out finished goods in increasing numbers for United States auto makers. American-made materials are assembled by inexpensive Mexican labor and then are shipped back to the United States under special, low tariff rates. [New York Times] Interior Secretary James Watt stuck by the letter he sent in June to the Israeli ambassador in Washington warning that opposition by Jewish American liberals to his energy program would impair this country's "ability to be a good friend to Israel." He said he was "proud" of the letter dispite a White House statement Friday disavowing it. [New York Times] Connecticut Republicans endorsed Senator Lowell Weicker's candidacy for a third term in Congress, but voting narrowly gave his challenger, Prescott Bush Jr., brother of Vice President Bush, enough votes to force a primary election Sept. 7. The vote at the state party's convention in Hartford was 609 for Mr. Weicker to 321 for Mr. Bush. [New York Times] Six universities may lose defense contracts and their Reserve training units if their law schools continue to bar Army recruiting because the Army will not accept homosexuals. Columbia and New York Universities are among the institutions whose law schools prohibit on-campus recruiting by any employer who discriminates on the basis of sexual preference. The Army's judge advocate general said that he will recommend that the Pentagon rule them ineligible for future contracts unless their law schools permit Army recruiting of prospective graduates. [New York Times] The Israelis bombed Syrian missiles in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon and lost a plane to Syrian fire, a military spokesman in Jerusalem announced. The spokesman said the missiles had been brought in from Syria during the night. They were said to be Soviet-made SAM-8 surface-to-air missiles, a more advanced type than previous Soviet missiles used by Syria. [New York Times] The Palestinian presence in Lebanon was similar to an independent state until Israel's invasion on June 6. Under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinians maintained an army, a police force, a crude judicial system, an educational and welfare organization, a civil service and a foreign policy. The major tool of persuasion for those who might have resisted Palestinian rule was the gun, according to those who lived under it and are describing what it was like. [New York Times] Italy will honor all signed contracts for supplying equipment for the Soviet natural gas pipeline to Western Europe, the Foreign Ministry announced. It was the second Western European nation to defy President Reagan's ban on providing American-designed equipment for the pipeline. France announced its decision to continue to participate Thursday. [New York Times] The U.S. is flying military equipment to Somalia to help it turn back Ethiopian attacks across the border, the State Department announced, confirming a report of the airlift by the Somali radio. [New York Times]