REAGAN SHOULD BE PUT ON TRIAL, QADDAFI DECLARES

Document Type: 
Collection: 
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
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
November 8, 1985
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP90-00552R000505250041-1.pdf67.79 KB
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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