U.S. BELIEVES LIBYA PLOTTING NEW ATTACKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504860013-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 7, 2012
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: August 26, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504860013-8
JR PAGE
WASHINGTON TIMES
26 August 1986
U.S. believes Libya.
plotting new attacks
By Jeremiah O'Leary
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The
Reagan administration said yester-
day Libya still desires to commit
acts of world terrorism, but the
United States and its allies are pre-
pared to prevent them.
White House spokesman Larry
Speakes said the joint military exer-
cises of U.S. and Egyptian forces are
unrelated to the Libyan threat. He
said "Operation Sea Breeze" was
planned months ago.
"We watch [Col. Muammar] Qad-
dafi's activities very closely, and we
keep a close eye on what he may be
planning;' he said. "We will use all
appropriate means to counter ter-
rorism with a high level of co-
operation from our allies:'
The spokesman declined to dis-
cuss whether Col. Qaddafi has
resumed terrorist plots since the
United States bombed two Libyan
bases last April in retaliation for the
Libyan bomb attack on a West Berlin
nightclub.
Other administration officials in
Washington, however, said they be-
lieve Col. Qaddafi is plotting a new
wave of terrorist attacks against
American targets in Europe and the
Mideast, and they have drawn up
plans to retaliate.
Sources said the Pentagon is com-
pleting plans for a new and larger
bombing of Libya in case President
Reagan orders it.
The officials, who asked not to be
identified, said reports indicated
Col. Qaddafi, possibly using hard-to-
trace "surrogates" such as
Palestinian Arabs, appeared to be
planning attacks against U.S. inter-
ests in West Germany.
"There are some reports the bad
guys might go after the ambassador
in Bonn;' one official said in a refer-
ence to Richard Burt, the U.S. am-
bassador to West Germany.
The officials, who insisted they
not be identified, told United Press
International the CIA has become
convinced the volatile Libyan leader
is moving back into the terrorism
business.
"We know the Libyans have for-
gotten the lesson they learned last
April;' a senior U.S. official told The
Wall Street Journal. Another top of-
ficial was quoted as saying Col. Qad-
dafi "seems to have gone off his
rocker again:'
The Journal said the United States
has prepared a three-pronged pro-
gram of military, covert and eco-
nomic actions intended to pre-empt
more Libyan-sponsored terrorism,
to exacerbate political and economic
tensions in Libya, and to remind Col.
Qaddafi and his inner circle that pro-
moting terrorism may be hazardous
to their health.
Asked to comment on the visit of
Syrian President Hafez Assad to
Libya, Mr. Speakes sidestepped com-
ment except to say that the leaders
of the region "are free to go where
they like."
Mr. Assad arrived in Libya on an
unannounced visit Sunday, the day
the United States and Egypt
launched their five-day maneuvers.
The Libyan news agency JANA
quoted the Syrian president as say-
ing: "Syria strongly and unhes-
itatingly stands in one trench
alongside the Libyan masses. ...
Any harm done to Libya will hit
Syria as well ... and any aggression
against it will be an aggression
against Syria:'
Col. Qaddafi has condemned the
joint maneuvers as a threat to his
country, while U.S. officials insist
they are not even near the Libyan
coast.
Diplomats in Damascus said Mr.
Assad and Col. Qaddafi also were
likely to discuss their support for
Iran in its six-year war against Iraq
amid signs that Iran will expand the
war and threaten all Persian Gulf oil
exports.
Foreign and oil ministers of the
six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council
are scheduled to meet today and to-
morrow in Saudia Arabia to discuss
Iranian threats against countries
that support Iraq.
This year alone, 57 tankers have
been hit and damaged in the "tanker
war," an offshoot of the ground
fighting in the conflict between Iran
and Iraq.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504860013-8