NATION IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Noriega Defense Challenges DEA

The CIA, Israeli arms deals and his wife’s businesses--not Colombian cocaine barons--fed Manuel A. Noriega’s swollen bank accounts, the defense contended in the ousted Panamanian leader’s Miami drug trial. Defense attorney Frank Rubino ripped into Drug Enforcement Administration financial analyst Lenore Sowers in a cross-examination punctuated by frequent government objections. The analyst had carefully traced $23 million through a maze of banks, numbered accounts and credit card summaries. “Can you say that any of this is drug money?” challenged Rubino. “No,” she responded.