U.S. ORDERS PROBE INTO LEAK OF CIA'S ANTI-QADDAFI PLAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570027-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: November 4, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/01/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570027-6
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WASHINGTON TIMES
4 November 1985
U.S. orders probe
into leak of CIA's
anti-Qaddafi plan
By Bill Gertz
THEN .SHINOTON nMEs
President Reagan has ordered an
investigation into a leak about a CIA
covert operation aimed at toppling
the radical Libyan regime of Col.
Muammar Qaddafi, the White
House said yesterday.
Details of the anti-Qaddafi opera-
tion appeared yesterday in The
Washington Post, which said it was
aimed at neutralizing Libyan-backed
assassinations, subversion and mili-
tary intervention in Africa. The Post
said the plan called for luring the
Libyan dictator into a situation
where anti-Qaddafi forces in the
military and exiles in a third country
could stage a coup.
The plan had been approved by
President Reagan, CIA Director Wil-
1 sey and Secretary of State
George S ultz in a "finding" issued
this fall, according to the Post.
The Post story quoted from sev-
eral classified documents, including
an intelligence assessment that said
Col. Qaddafi supports about 30 in-
surgent, radical or terrorist groups
worldwide, including some in Nica-
ragua, the Philippines and Lebanon.
"While in no way attributing any
cerning Libya, the president is or-
dering an investigation of the
disclosure of the U.S. intelligence
documents cited in this news report
in an effort to determine who is re-
sponsible for such disclosure and to
take appropriate action," the White
House announced in a statement
yesterday.
Unauthorized disclosure of clas-
sified information is a felony under
federal law and such investigations
normally are conducted by the FBI.
Public controversy over U.S. oper-
ations against the radical Libyan
leader dates to 1981. At that time The
Washington Post reported that sev-
eral members of the House Intel-
ligence Committee had written to
Mr. Reagan expressing concern
about a U.S. covert operation in Af-
rica later determined to be directed
against Col. Qaddafi.
The Libyan government reacted
with a statement saying pro-Qaddafi
forces would seek the "physical liq-
uidation" of American leaders be-
ginning with Mr. Reagan. In re-
sponse, the administration tightened
security measures around Washing-
ton in anticipation of attacks by Lib-
y
s report mentioned
credence to the specific allegations "initial resistance" from Committee
and conclusions drawn in The Wash- P Chairman Dave Durenberger, Min-
ington Post article on reports con- p nesota Republican, and Patrick J.
Yesterda
'
Leahy, Vermont Democrat, the two
top members of the Senate Intelli-
gence Committee, who wrote Mr.
Reagan that the covert operation
might involve assassination, a covert
method prohibited by federal law
under a presidential directive.
Neither senator could be reached
for comment yesterday.
Washington Post assistant
managing editor Bob Woodward, au-
thor
of the article, would not com-
ment on the pending leak investiga-
tion when reached by telephone
yesterday.
The article referred to two other
secret intelligence documents: a
29-page "Vulnerability Assessment"
of Col. Qaddafi done by the CIA and
other intelligence agencies dated
June 18, 1984, and a special national
intelligence estimate, "Libya's
Khadafy: the Challenge to the
United States and Western Inter-
ests;" which was completed earlier
this year.
Col. Qaddafi has purchased an es-
timated $20 billion worth of Soviet-
made military equipment, an enor-
mous buildup for a desert nation of
only 3 million, according to U.S. offi-
cials. Libya's 2,400 Soviet tanks and
500 warplanes constitute a force
larger than France's tank divisions
and Britain's Royal Air Force re-
spectively, they said.
According to broadcasts
monitored outside Libya, Col. Qad-
dafi said in a speech last year mark-
ing the 14th anniversary of the clos-
ing of the U.S. Wheelus Air Base in
Tripoli that "we are now in a position
to export terrorism, liquidation and
arson to the heart of America."
U.S. officials have labeled Col.
Qaddafi a terrorist in response to
evidence linking the Libyan regime
to subversion and terrorism in 45
countries since 1969.
Approved For Release 2011/01/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570027-6