OFFICERS FEARED BY QADDAFI REPORTEDLY CLOSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 19, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: April 4, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDPO5-01559ROO0400470002-2
Officers Fear~
By EDWARD SCHUMACHER
Spedal to The New York Times
by
ifi Reportedly Close
clashes between the Sixth Fleet and Libyan
forces in the Gulf of Sidra were part of an Ad-
ministration strategy aimed at provoking
dissidents in the military to see the cost of
what the Administration says is Libyan-
backed terrorism as too high and, ultimately,
provoking these dissidents to overthrow Colo-
nel Qaddafi, the reports hold.
But the many sources here generally ques-
tion the Administration's logic. They say the
dissidents appear to have closed ranks with
the Colonel, at least temporarily, in a show of
nationalism against a foreign threat.
One diplomat with particularly close ties toy
the military reported that many of those in,
the military who are doubters of Qaddafi are;
in fact elated over the outcome of the fight-
ing. Despite having suffered a pubicly unde-1
termined number of casualties and damage
to boats, planes and a radar site, they see
Libya - and themselves - as a David that
has stood up against the American Goliath.
'Misreading' Is Seen
"The Americans are misreading the inter-
nal situation," said one diplomat.
Some of the diplomats acknowledge that in
the murkiness of Libyan politics, American
military pressure could prove to be effective
in the long term. But the consensus among
the many sources is that the best policy to get
rid of Colonel Qaddafi is to leave him to his
own designs. They say his erratic political
behavior and his failing economic policies in
the face of plummeting oil prices are fanning
dissension on their own.
Libyans are being inconvenienced by
shortages in food and consumer products,
while many of the colonel's grandiose con-
struction projects have becomed mired in
mismanagement and debt. Falling income
from oil has meant that the country can no
longer buy its way out of its problems.
"Qaddafi is his worst enemy," said one dip-
lomat.
Secretiveness in Libya, which is saturated
by a pervasive intelligence network, makes
the extent of the dissent inside the military
difficult to measure. But at least seven assas-
sination attempts, most of them by military
men, have been reported in recent years.
Efforts to Displace Military
TRIPOLI, Libya 1#-,~ April 3 - When Col.
Muammar etQaddhiI, ibya's leader, pre-
pares tofly-inside his own country, two
planes await him on the tarmac, according to
witnesses. Only the Colonel' knows which
plane he will use, they say. The other then
takes off as a decoy.
When' Colonel Qaddafi travels by land in-
side Libya, he moves In a heavily-armed
caravan of jeeps. And, traveling or not, he
wears a bulletproof vest, even under'casual
clothes at home, according to those who have
been around him.
These measures are part of the extraordi-
nary security that surrounds the man, whose
homeitself is a military barracks where tank
guns point through slots at passers-by.
The security is directed against Colonel
Qaddafi's own military. Having taken power
himself in a military coup 16 years -ago, the
colonel is said by. Western and Arab diplo-
mats and other observers here to be virtually
paranoid about new discontent in the ranks.
Hopes of Exploiting Discontent
According to reports from Washington, it is
this discontent that the Reagan Administra-
tion hopes to exploit. Sources in Congress and
the executive branch say that the recent
At the heart of the current dissent is a re-
sentment of efforts by Colonel Qaddafi to in-
sert a corps of an estimated 1,000 to 2,000,
"revolutionary guards" inside the armed'
forces. These guards are said to be mostly
young, pro-Qaddafi zealots who politically'
monitor even commanding officers. Some;
diplomats say the guards may have the keys;
to stockpiled ammunition.
The military is also said. to resent the grow-
ing role, at least until recently, of "revolu-
Ranks With Him Against v. J.
tionary committees. These committees, for
the most part, are neighborhood-organized
militia that have increasingly become Colo-
nel Qaddafi's eyes and ears in Libyan society
and the source of his power.
Colonel Qaddafi has expressed his determi-
nation to eventually replace the professional
military with these "armed people."
The economic recession has also touched
the military. The Colonel continues making
roughly $1 billion a year worth of purchases
of Soviet arms, but some 1,400 tanks and 450
combat planes have remained stored, often
crated, according to the London-based Inter-
national Institute for Strategic Studies. Libya
is said to lack the pilots for the planes and the
crews for the tanks.
. Construction Projects Slowed
Meanwhile, a number of military construc-
tion projects have been canceled or slowed,
and some military commissary privileges
have been withdrawn. The waste and dimin-
ished privileges have fed resentments. '
One result is that the military is reported to
be divided over Libya's involvement in Chad.
Several thousand troops are still in that coun-
try, Libya's southern neighbor, and the ven-
ture is said to be costly. But the army's Com-
mander in Chief, Brig. Abu-Bakr Younis
Jaber. backs staying there.
ment, Col. Hassan Ishkal, a professional sol-
dier said to be popular in the military, was
killed in what foreign diplomats here say was
a politically motivated murder. Some ver-,
sions hold that he died in the presence of Colo- i
Tensions With Egypt an Issue
Colon Ishkaja distant cousin of Colonel
Qaddafi, was known to oppose many of Colo-:
nel Qaddafi's policies. He was also said to op-I
pose Colonel Qaddafi's provocation of ten-
sions with its neighbor, Egypt.
Even if Colonel Qaddafi were removed, it is!
unclear what a new military leadership
would do about terrorism, the diplomats;,
said. Colonel Qaddafi acknowledges that hej
has provided training, funding and weapons!
for what he calls foreign revolutionary;
,groups, although he denies any role in their
tactical operations. Some of the training
takes place on military bases, indicating that!
the military accepts it, the diplomats said.
In addition, an estimated 5,000 to 6,000'
Soviet and other East bloc military advisers
are in Libya, and it is unclear what position a
new military leadership would take toward
the Russians, the diplomats said. Some diplo-
mats maintain that no coup would be possible
without Soviet knowledge, and possibly even
agreement. For the time being, they said, the
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDPO5-01559ROOO4OO47OOO2-2
F
 A") A 1 J n rte / .,,, / A I
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19:
CIA-RDP05-015598000400470002-2
I -,~V_11_ - /
0
Qaddafi Claims U.S. Attacked Jet,
^ LONDON-Libyan leader Muammar
cent routine Libyan reconnaissance flight over
the Mediterranean, Ghana's Accra-radio said
in a broadcast monitored by the BBC in Lon-
don.
"Libya will never be frightened by the re-
peated acts of aggression by the . United
States," the radio reported Qaddafi as saying
after he-arrived in Accra for a state,vvisit. l
a i accused the U.S. military firing on a re- ,
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19 :
CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
:der Reportedly
MUAMMAR QADDAFI
... said to kill provincial governor
qal was killed in a hail of gunfire at in. his office before Eshqal's arrival.
Qaddafi's Bab al Azzizya barracks. The diplomats quoted Libyan of=
Libyan officials refused to answer ficials as saying that Qaddafi told
questions about Eshqal's death. the agents to kill Eshgal if the cdl-
The diplomats, however, said onel put his hand in his pocket dui.;..
Libya officially declared that Eshgal ing their meeting.
died in a car accident, but they "There was a heated discussion
quoted hospital sources and officials between Qaddafi and Eshgal, which
in Qaddafi's office as saying the col- erupted into shouting," one dipl'o-
one[ was brought to a Tripoli hos- mat said. "Eshqal put his hand in his
pital with six bullet wounds. pocket when the machine-gun fine
The alleged assassination at- erupted." The diplomats said they
tempt by a man who belonged to believed Qaddafi personally partc
Qaddafi's Qadafodam tribe and was ipated in the shooting.
be identified, said Col. Hassan Esh- agents armed with submachine guns
,
leader Col. ~Muammar Qa_ fi in Surt, a major m ary
thwarted an assassination a empt miles southeast of the capital. "I am
in November. during which a' pro- sure they will kill me. But when you
vincial governor was killed, western hear h Qaddafi is dead, move
your troops from Surt to Tripoli."
diplomats said today. The diplomats said Qaddafi,
"~`-'frnifed~ress~nter`nati~o 1 Na'1I - add, the, diplomats
rquoted Eshqal as telling his officers
TRIPOLI Libya
Jan. 4-Lib ;1 ;+ 't base 25A
Thwarted Assassination Try
married to a niece of the Libyan , Reports of}attempts against;Qa
leader reflected mounting criticism dafi have been widespread in recent
within the armed forces of Qaddafi's years, although many of the reports
economic policies. have been dismissed by western
"I'm going to the Bab al Azzizya diplomats as disinformation.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
0
?
FOREIGN NEWS
11ie Beni sc-/e' ~o s ~- ?.
Invites Reagan to pay him a visit
Monday, January 13, 1986 Thf
(3addafi gives j ournalists rare glimpse of family
By KATE DOURIAN
TRIPOLI (Reuter). - With the flair of a master
showman, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
'accorded a handful of women journalists a rare
,1glimpse of his family in his Beduin tent - then
vwited President Ronald Reagan, to come too.
. Gaddafi said the U.S. president would change
his mind about him being a terrorist if he came to
visit him.
? `1He would see I don't live in trenches with hand
grenades in rpy belt or carry a pistol. They think I
don't laugh or smile, that I have no family," he
told the reporters on Saturday.
The 43-year-old Gaddafi was flanked by his wife
Safiya and four of his seven children in his tent
pitched inside the fortified Bab-el-Azzazia bar-
racks on the outskirts of Tripoli.
He confided that he tried to help his children
with their homework and that he wanted them all
to grow up to be doctors.
Gaddafi, exploiting the presence of a big press
corps which descended on Tripoli since a crisis
flared with the U.S,. told the women: "I'm
invitingReagan through you.
Reagan has imposed economic sanctions on
Libya and denounced Gaddafi as a barbarian,
accusing him of harbouring the Abu Nidal terror-
ists, blamed for attacks which killed 19 people in
Rome, and Vienna airports on December 27.
Gaddafi, born to nomadic parents, was dress-
ed in Beduin style when he presented his family
to the women reporters. His 32-year-old wife was
dressed in a red and black outfit. Her head was
unc"?"?_ove,~i~ed, -
f~i~lrts'ie; as A 2 s
She said she did not.like politics. Safiya recalileJO
she was a student nurse when she first s'aw
Gaddafi. He had just had an operation to remo e
his appendix shortly after seizing power as a young'
army officer in 1969. Only one of their seven
children is a girl, named after his mother.
Gaddafi said he would like more children.
He said several of his brothers and sisters died
of malaria before he was born. So he insisted trial
his own children take up the medical profession to
help the starving and the sick in Africa.
Although devoted to his children, Gaddafi has a
hard time remembering their ages. Safiya listened
quietly, clutching her four-year-old son, Seif al-
Arab (the sword of the Arabs), closely to her
breast. Gaddafi does not want his wife to cover her
head. It is a custom which has no meaning, he said.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2J Y A
B ED.WAR~D SC
T t Z' bya, April 16 - Col.
T eI Qaddafi, in his first pub-
Rent'since the United States
and YBrt Tole in its planning. He
ed to continue his sup-
uts of the Libyan .leader,
been seen publicly since
off rumors around the world that he
might have. left the country or been
wounded or even killed, though that
was denied-by Libyan officials.
Whereabouts Unknown
It was unclear from the broadcast,
which began at 11:15 P.M., whether
Colonel Qaddafi spoke in a live trans-
mission, though references to the raid
proved he survived it.
The whereabouts of Colonel Qaddafi,
who was dressed in a white naval uni-
form with gold epaulets and spoke with
a map of Libya behind him, were also
unknown. He voice was subdued but he
appeared healthy.
President Reagan, the Libyan leader
said, "should be put on trial as a war
criminal and murderer of children."
The attack, in which his headquar-
Continued on Page A22, Column 4
ters were reported hit, was said to have
killed the colonel's infant daughter and
wounded two sons of pre-school age,
who are are listed in serious condition
in a hospital here, officials said.
"We are ready to die and we are
ready to carry on fighting and defend-
ing our country," Colonel Qaddafi de-
clared, speaking in Arabic.
Mr. Reagan, he said, was "guilty of
issuing orders to regular forces to mur-
der children and attack houses."
"We have not issued any orders for
murdering anybody, but we are incit-
ing revolution," he said. "Inciting
revolution and establishing popular
revolution everywhere in the world is
one of our aims.
"We will never abandon the uniting
of the Arab nation, and the raids will
not make us abandon this call, which
concerns only us and does not concern
the Americans or anybody else in the
world," he continued.
"It is a great thing that a small coun-
try like Libya can confront Britain and
the United States," he said. "It was as
if they were launching a third world
war, coming 4,000 kilometers and re-
fueling so many times.
"We know that airplanes came from
Britain, and we know that France did
not allow overflights," he said. "We
thank France for that."
The colonel did not repeat the threats
of reprisal he,made; before, the bombing
raid. "We can tell Reaganthat he does-
n't have to protect -his children and citi_
zens because we do not bombchildren
like the United States does," he-said.
Meanwhile,.a bus filled with report-
ers early this afternoon was pulling up.
to the colonel's h carters com-
pound, Bab al Aziziybarracks, to in-
spect the damage from the bombing
when firing broke out.
About a dozen soldiers with auto-
matic rifles ran out a green side gate,
and the sound of machine guns rattled
overhead. A flash of light from behind
the high compound walls appeared to
indicate the firing of a missile.
The Libyan authorities said later
that a high altitude American recon-
naissance plane, an SR-71 Blackbird,
was flying overhead.
Colonel Qaddafi is known to face dis-
sension from the armed forces, though
there were no strong indications that a
coup was in the works.
The television and radio statement
was repeated minutes after its first
broadcast, though it was uncertain how
many Libyans saw it. Blackout orders
have darkened this city for the second
night in a row as the Government had
reported additional bombing raids and
intense barrages of antiaircraft fire
and missiles have broken out sporadi-
cally.
Cites Palestinian Struggle
In his remarks, Colonel Qaddafi
said: "We will not abandon the strug-
gle for the liberatio of Palestine. The
raids will never m4e us abandon this.
We will not abandon our incitement of
popular revolution, whatever raids
they carry out.
"If the United States hits us with nu-
clear bombs, we will stand up to it be-
cause Allah is stronger than the United
States," he said. "We are ready to
die."
"It is very clear we did not carry our
fight to the United States," he said..
"They came here."
Information Minister Mohammed
Sharaf Eddin said in an interview here
tonight that Colonel Qaddafi had not
been wounded in the bombing and that
he was busy at work at an undisclosed
location somewhere in Libya.
Other officials said that the colonel
was in Tripoli today and that he had
talked on the phone with a number of
Arab heads of state. Which ones was
not disclosed.
Responds to Report of Coup
Mr. Sharaf Eddin summoned five re-
porters for the interview to respond to a
report on the BBC suggesting that the
firing at Colonel Qaddafi's compound
was a coup attempt.. The report may
also have prompted the colonel's tele-
vision appearance. Libyans widely rely
on the BBC for news,
Shortly after the television broad-
cast, lights inside the Al Kabir Hotel,
where most foreign reporters are stay-
ing, suddenly went on, an indication
that officials wanted news,of the~broad?
cast sent out. The rest of the. city re-
mained blacked.ogt.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
c.
Associated Press
QADDAFI'S HEADQUARTERS: Compound of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi at El-Azziziya Barracks.
Domed building at left was described as his office; his bunker was said to be under. central part of complex,
iQaddafi Goes on TV, Assailing U.
avlt. ' x
The press buses had sped away when
the barracks firing broke out. Butall
seemed calm and some guards lounggd
lazily when reporters returned about
an hour later. There were no indi'-
tions of any internal struggles.
Inside the nearly 20-acre compound,
reporters found what appeared-to be
eight bomb craters along a 300-yid
row extending from immediately.,in
front of the colonel's private house,,o
an administrative building under
which he works out of a fortified btWk-
er. The row passed within 50 yards of. a
camouflaged Bedouin tent in which the
colonel also often Works.
The Reagan Administration )s
denied it set out to kill Colonel Qaddafi
In the bombing raid. Nonetheless, itap-
peared that no other parts of the com-
pound were hit.
The colonel's house was a porticged, ..
boxy two-story, building covered?'In
pale-colored tile. The windows and
doors were blown out, ceilings were-
caved in, and rooms were filled with'
smashed furnitu're and dangling wires.
At least two bombs dropped within 30
yards of the house. The supports on the
colonel's tent had been blown out and
some shattered.
Officials guiding"` the reporters
around said'tlie colonel was inside the
sandbagged tent at the time of the raid.
But this was not iconrrnea'
Associated Pr
e's's
ON TELEVISIONLwi(l Col.
Muammarael Qaddafi he,rap-
pear"ecl n`%roadast n_Itib a:Irfa
iytlts: 'C
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
fore suns
,ig children were
Cam is, 3,
colonel
ave es-
erground coni-
Bab
by
the
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
? W
U.S. Raid Kills daughter of Qaddafi, Also Hits a
Italian and American authorities
called it light.
An Soviet-bloc official said he had
witnessed the downing of an American
warplane over, the water off Tripoli in
the raid by F-111 and A-7 jets beginning
before 2 A.M. this morning.
Foreign reporters here were taken to
two sites upon promises by officials of
the Information Ministry to see two
downed Ameican warplanes, but no
planes were seen.
Claims of 20 Shot Down
The Libyan radio said American
pilots had been killed by Libyan mobs
and later said that at least 20 planes
had been shot down.
From the vantage of a balcony facing
the harbor here, reporters could hear
the deep roars on the edge of the city to-
night, but it was unclear if bombs were
dropping or if it was the sound of an-
tiaircraft missiles and guns.
In the Binashor residential district,
residents reported that four or five
bombs were dropped by warplanes that
might have been aiming at the the
nearby headquarters of the Libyan in-
telligence agency.
In the bombing early Tuesday,
nearly half a dozen houses were de-
stroyed and many others damaged in a
six-block area.
As rescue workers sifted through the
rubble, one angry resident shouted, "I
didn't expect this, but I should have ex-
AIRPORT
(Military Wing)
^
Japanese
Chinese
ugoslavl8 ? lALLQADISIYA
,SQUARE ^ Rumania
IbnAn als
-/ Hospital~
Frenc
Emba
\9ti_
h
ssy
^
Swiss
I I
EI-Azzizl a Barracks Communications and
~yc Q Marine Transportation Tripoli
Bombs damaged one side of the French Embassy and parts of the Swiss and Rumanian Embassies. Most of the
damage in Tripoli was confined to this neighborhood and el-Azziziya barracks, where the Qaddafis live.
pected it from a country like the United
States." The bombs also damaged one
side of the French Embassy, blowing
out windows and overturning files.
The Austrian and Japanese diplo-
matic residences and the Embassies of
the Swiss and Rumanian Governments
were damaged in varying degrees.
Shops Are Shut, Streets Quiet
In most of the city, calm reigned; al-
most r. all shops were shut and streets
were empty.
Men with automatic rifles stood in
front of the most important buildings
,
at times checking.the identification of
visitors to foreign embassies. No hos-
tile' actions were reported against
,Residential Area of Tripoli..
Americans or Western Europeans
here.
The Government closed the airport,
saying both it and an airport in Ben-
ghazi had been damaged in the raid.
The Libyan radio said commercial
airliners that were on the ground at the
time of the attack also had been hit, but
this could not be confirmed.
Foreign diplomats ;paid a military
airfield adjacent to the Tripoli airport -
and, across town, the sprawling former
Wheelus United States Air Force Base,
now called Maatiqa, took a poundigg.
There were two or three large unex-
plained explosions near the airport
around 9:30 o'clock this morning.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
it- 0 [1
Italian S,PalaceHotel
-
 Q A!,Preclassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2 14
Doctor Says.Raid Killed, Qaddafi
side the Bab el-Azziziya Barracks, sa , w
which also serves as his personal head en,route to the hospital to operate on
quarters in the capital., The colonel her. The doctor said she was buried to-
day before sundown, in keeping with
himself, according to .most reports, "M'oslem custom.
was not injured and was probafilyy ttot~. ;i7She; yids A ,adopted, child, selected
in -the house aftheti`me oP`theL'attdek from a nursery when she was 4 months
A Guarded Hospital Ward old. Of the colonel's seven natural chit-
Dr--. Muafa was interviewed outside a dren, six are boys and only one, 8-year-
an hour after the bombing rain. tie saia Teaching Hospital of Al Fatah Univer-
Colonel Qaddafi's wife "was in a bad, sity, the doctor said.
state of shock." Hana? died shortly after arrival, he
Colonel addafi's private home is in- id Mile an orthopedic surgeon was
The pediatrician, Dr. Mohammed ternai injuries, the doctor said. All of
Muafa, said he went to the Qaddafi Colonel oaddafi's eieht children were
family pediatrician. Injuries to Daughter
Two other children of the Libyan The blast was so powerful that young
leader were wounded, he said. 11 Hana suffered a skull fracture and in-
ous
t
daughtgr named Hana, died in the at- two-story s ucco
tack.. by American 'fighter-bombers aged and its windows blown out by
Qaddafi, a 15-month-old adopted Dr: Muafa said Colonel Qaddafi's
e --hat" dam-
h
steal to The New York limes 1 family," Dr. Muafa said in describing
Dr. Muafa said. These included 16-
year-old Mohammed, 14-year-old Sef
al-Islam, 13-year-old Sad, 9-year-old
Hanibal and Esha, the doctor said.
But the other two, 4-year-old Sef al-
Arab, and 3-year-old Camis, remain in
the hospital ward.
The hospital is a well-equipped but
shabby yellow stucco structure in the
colonial style of the period when Italy
ruled Libya before World War II.
The two boys are in serious condi-
tion. They had been sleeping alone in
se arate rooms and suffered internal
In cries, Dr. Muafa said.
The Bab al-Azziziya Barracks is a 10-
to-15 acre complex. Inside is a recep-
tion hall, barracks, individual houses
and an open field on which squats a
sandbagged tent in which the 44-year-
old colonel often works. He was born
and raised In a similar one.
There was no explanation immedi-
ately available as to why Colonel Qad-
dafi did not visit his children in the hds-
pital. It was not known if he attended
Hana's burial.
Western diplomats and Libyans sad
they were not puzzled by the colonel's
silence. He has always had an uncon-
ventional style and has great inst'i'ncts
in a crisis, they said.
there that the wounaea cmioren were Muafa said, referring to Safiya el-Qad-
brought, he said. A guard the door. door. two data, who was herself taken to a.hospi-
automatic rifles stood outside holding the
According According to Dr. Muafa, ' Colonel tai for adults.
Qaddafi has not' come to the, hospital. Dr. Muafa said she suffered. mostly
He has instead maintained a public si- from shock, but neither he nor Infor-
lence, not saying-anything even about oration Ministry officials here knew
the fighting. her condition tonight.
"I,saw very-much-terrol. among the :rMost.q the ehildren were treated for.
Businoss Dnyelps ,you stpy ahead
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2
 e('~ j~ . I N, a . % ^ W%A A k A r
~1C F Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP05-01559R000400470002-2) l 0'
W
N Y TI MEs ~~~s6
Libya SAttack
Would Bring Response
By EDWARD SCHUMACHER
Special to The New York Times
TRIPOLI, Libya, April 9 - Col.'?
Muammar el-Qaddafi said today that if;
the United States attacked Libya, hel
would issue orders for attacks against!
American targets worldwide.
At the same time, the Libyan leader'
denied that his Government was in-
volved in recent terrorist attacks, ands
he challenged President Reagan to,
make public the proof the Administra-,
tion has said it has. I
"So far, we have not ordered such at-'
tacks," he said in a news conference.'
"But if aggression is staged against us,j
we shall give the orders and the in-i
structions to the Arab Revolutionary,
Command forces and to the Mathaba to`
stage such actions against American.
targets all over the world."
The Arab Revolutionary Command]
includes Libyan-backed dissident,
groups of the Palestine Liberation Or-
ganization, such as the known terrorist
groups led by Abu Nidal and Abu Musa,
as well as Iranian, Syrian and other
armed groups.
A Mathaba congress last month was
attended by 258 delegations, includin
American Indians, the American Black
Muslims led by Louis Farrakhan and a
patchwork of Irish, Basque, Philippine,
Kurd, Palestinian and other groups,
some of them separatist or extremist. ,
Qaddafi's Position Shifts
Colonel Qaddafi's identification o
groups that he could order to carry out
attacks was unusual.
He has often threatened to attack
American targets, including those i
the United States. Last month he said
he would train "terrorist and suicide
missions."
But he has also said that while he
trains, arms and gives money to un-
identified extremist groups, he is no
involved in their tactical operations.
"It is axiomatic that the Americans
will be defeated militarily," he said.
"It is axiomatic that if aggression is
Libyan officials seem to,bye uneasy
'e~dly