Date: Wed, 23 Oct 91 9:21:23 PDT From: "Peter G. Neumann" Subject: Near-sighted or far-sighted fibre-opticians? U.S. spy masters prevent sale of optic fibre to Soviets' experts By MARIE JOANIDDIS PARIS, Oct 22 (AFP) - The United States, seeking to maintain its ability to spy on conventional telecommunications, is preventing western companies from selling much-needed optic fibre to the Soviet Union, several western experts say. Agreement on policy appeared unlikely before the next high-level meeting in Paris at the end of November or beginning of December of the western coordinating committee for export control (COCOM) which restricts the export of high technology to communist countries, they said. A modern telecommunications system is considered vital if the Soviet Union is to develop and open up its economy. Optic fibres are an essential component of such a system, but information carried by optic fibre escapes electronic eavesdropping, unlike communications on traditional telecommunications circuits. COCOM, acting under U.S. pressure, continues to ban exports of the fibre cable to the Soviet Union. Congress and major telecommunications companies such as ATT favour liberalisation of telecommunications exports. But the U.S. administration of President George Bush has argued that it needs to maintain its capacity to listen to Soviet communications because of continuing instability throughout the Soviet Union. The administration has indicated that it is willing to discuss the issue, but despite this, and the pressure, a relaxation is not expected before the next COCOM meeting. The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce James Lemunyon told a congressional commission last month that a trans-Soviet optic-fibre network would represent a security threat to the United States. U.S. intelligence services held that an optic-fibre telephone network would reduce their ability to listen to Soviet communications, he explained. But observers noted that Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hankin had said that the isolation of the Soviet Union and its former communist allies now took second place to worries about the spread of missiles and chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in developing countries. An easing of restrictions on optic fibres is of particular interest to France which is highly competitive in the related technology, particularly through the Alcatel company. Meanwhile, the 17 members of COCOM, comprising the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, excluding Iceland but including Japan and Australia, have continued to ease their rules for trade in high technology, including some optic-fibre systems, with members of the former commnist bloc considered to be worthy of merit. They are Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland which have undertaken fundamental political and economic reform. The COCOM countries are considering extending preferential treatment to the three newly-independent Baltic republics, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, informed European sources said. The Europeans wanted to go farther than the United States by being prepared to consider the Baltic countries as "co-operating" countries after a relatively short transitional period. COCOM also aims to liberalise trade between its own members by January 1 1992, by harmonising standards and regulations of export controls so as to simplify procedures. Last summer COCOM countries completed general liberalisation of controls, but reinforced them for a short list of so-called "hard core" products considered to involve strategic technology. These arrangements have been in force since September 1.