Oliver North of Iran-Contra scandal to be next NRA chief

WASHINGTON: Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra arms sale scandal under US president Ronald Reagan, is set to become the next president of the National Rifle Association gun lobby.

North was convicted on three charges in connection with the IranContra scheme, under which money from arms sales to Teheran was funnelled to rebels in Nicaragua, but the convictions were later overturned.

The NRA said that its board had approved North’s candidacy on Monday and that he would take over as president in the next few weeks, after current president Pete Brownell chose not to seek a second term.

“Oliver North is a legendary warrior for American freedom, a gifted communicator and skilled leader,” NRA executive vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre said in a statement.

“This is the most exciting news for our members since Charlton Heston became president of our association,” LaPierre said, refer- ring to the Hollywood star who held the post from 1998 to 2003.

After retiring from the US Marine Corps as a lieutenant colonel, North, now 74, authored several best-selling books and worked as a conservative commentator on Fox News.

He is leaving Fox effective immediately, according to the NRA.

While assigned to the National Security Council in the 1980s, North was involved in the Iran-Contra affair, an international arms sale scandal about which he lied to Congress. Weapons were sold to Iran “in contravention of stated US policy and in possible violation of arms-export controls,” according to a report on the scandal, a move Reagan administration officials hoped would help facilitate the release of Americans held hostage in civil war-racked Lebanon.

Money from the weapons sales was funneled to the Contras – US-backed rebels who were fighting Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government – despite a congressional prohibition on such aid.