REAGAN SHOULD BE PUT ON TRIAL, QADDAFI DECLARES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505250041-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: November 8, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000505250041-1
.;; WASHINGTON TIMES
A.
8 November 1985
Reagan should be put on
trial, Qaddafi declares
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) - Col. Muam-
mar Qaddafi said yesterday that Pres-
ident Reagan should be tried for a pur-
ported CIA plan to undermine him that
the Libyan leader called "more scandal-
ous than Watergate"
He said that if the report of the plan
proves true, Libya will retaliate with a
campaign of internal subversion in the
United States.
"If it's true, we have to fight. We must
subvert America from the inside by
using all means possible:' Col. Qaddafi
said.
In a news conference at his heavily
guarded barracks and in a brief conver-
sation with Western reporters afterward,
Col. Qaddafi, 43, said a report by the
Washington Post on Sunday that Mr. Rea-
gan authorized a CIA plan to undermine
his regime amounted to "a new Nazism
by the American government:"
"I think this is a serious violation of the
law perpetrated by the American pres-
ident, and I think he should be tried ac-
cording to American law," Col. Qaddafi
said.
"This is more dangerous and more
scandalous than Watergate:' he said.
"We have always tried in good faith to
have relations with America, but you
can't reason with the American govern-
ment:' he said. Col. Qaddafi spoke in Ara-
bic and an interpreter translated it into
English.
The purported plan "proves to us that
America is our enemy and should be con-
fronted" by the Libyan people and a
united Arab front, Col. Qaddafi said dur-
ing his 30-minute session with Western,
Libyan and Sudanese reporters.
The White House did not confirm the
reported CIA plan, but said an investiga-
tion was being conducted to determine
who had leaked information.
Col. Qaddafi is believed to support ter-
rorist groups around the world. He de-
nies supporting terrorism, but ac-
knowledges backing what he calls
independence movements.
The Libyan leader, dressed in a flow-
ing eggshell-colored robe with gold em-
broidery, told the news conference that
he is "against all forms of terrorism:'
He said he deplored the death of
American passenger Leon Klinghoffer
last month during the two-day hijacking
of an Italian cruise liner by gunmen who
said they belonged to a faction of the
Palestine Liberation Organization.
He laughed when asked about reports
of discontent in the Libyan military,
which Western diplomats consider to be
a major threat to his regime.
"There are no such elements:" said
Col. Qaddafi, who was a young officer
when he led a coup against King Idris in
1969.
The newspaper report stirred immedi-
ate anger in this North African country.
The Foreign Ministry protested to the
United Nations, and Foreign Minister Ali
Abdussalam Treiki has called in several
foreign ambassadors to discuss the re-
port, the latest among them Oleg Peres-
sypkin of the Soviet Union.
Relations between the United States
and Libya have grown steadily worse
since a Libyan mob sacked the U.S. Em-
bassy in Tripoli in December 1979, re-
sulting in its closure. The United States
closed Libya's Washington embassy in
May 1981 and expelled its diplomats for
what the State Department called viola-
tions of "internationally accepted stan-
dards of diplomatic behavior."
Libyan embassies and "people's bu-
reaus" in other countries have also been
closed for their connections with terror-
ist activities, including an incident in
which a British policewoman was killed
by shots fired from within the London
embassy.
Approved For Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000505250041-1