French Spying? CIA Warns Firms
WASHINGTON - CIA officials are warning leading U.S. aerospace and defense companies, including The Boeing Co., that the French government may be spying on them, company officials said yesterday.
At least one company, Hughes Aircraft Co., canceled plans to attend the Paris Air Show as a result.
Hughes Chairman Michael Armstrong decided against attending the world's premier arms exposition after a recent government briefing about the French plans.
The briefing was based on a 21-page list of French spy targets published by Knight-Ridder Newspapers, said Hughes spokesman Dave Shea. The Times carried that story April 18.
A French Embassy spokesman has said there is nothing in the document that indicates it was the work of the French government.
Senior security officials at Honeywell Inc. and Boeing also got recent government warnings of French spying, spokesmen said.
A McDonnell Douglas Corp. spokesman said the CIA had briefed his company about the French plans.