Beirut Editor Who Disclosed U.S.-Iran Arms Deal Wounded

BEIRUT — Motorcycle gunmen today shot and badly wounded the magazine editor who disclosed the U.S.-Iran arms deal and wrote inside stories about foreign hostages.

Hassan Sabra, 44, was in stable condition after surgery at the American University Hospital, said a spokesman for Ash Shiraa, the weekly magazine Sabra owns and edits.

President Reagan dubbed the magazine “that rag in Beirut” for its exposure of his Administration’s secret arms deals and contacts with Iran, which became the biggest scandal of his presidency.

Sabra was hit in the jaw and neck when at least one of two gunmen fired into his car, stuck in a traffic jam about a quarter mile from his office in Muslim West Beirut.