Clair E. George | Spymaster, 81

Clair E. George, 81, a consummate spymaster who moved the chess pieces in the CIA's clandestine games of intrigue before being convicted of lying to Congress about the Iran-contra affair, died Aug. 11 in Bethesda, Md. The cause was cardiac arrest, said his sister, Gail Marshall.

Before Mr. George was sentenced, the first President George Bush granted a full and unconditional pardon to him and five other Iran-contra defendants.

As the CIA's deputy director of operations for three years of the Reagan administration, the third-highest post in the spy agency, Mr. George was responsible for cloak-and-dagger activities worldwide. He reached this pinnacle after three decades of working as a spy around the world, specializing in recruiting foreign agents to spy on their own countries for the United States.

Bob Woodward, in his 1987 book, Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987, said veteran spies regarded George as "an old warhorse symbol of the CIA at its best and proudest."

Mr. George's loyalty to the CIA was unshakable, and ultimately wrecked his career. He was convicted in 1992 of lying to congressional committees and a grand jury to keep from disclosing what he knew about the agency's participation in the Reagan administration's illegal scheme to sell arms to Iran and divert profits from the sales to help the contra rebels in Nicaragua.

Mr. George said that his conscience was clear and that he felt like "a pawn in a continuous drama of political exploitation." Earlier, he had explained that he had been "almost megalomaniacal" in striving to use his testimony to Congress to "protect the agency." - N.Y. Times News Service