ISRAELIS SEEN AS SOURCE OF 'CARLOS' THREAT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505410092-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 10, 2010
• Sequence Number: 92
• Publication Date: December 12, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/10: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505410092-7
RTICL'',E AP} E ED
oil
PAGE
Israelis Seen',.
`'
~ls Source 0
.
.
meat ..
los
.
.
? By ROBERT
C.
.and
RONALDJ.OSTROW: L, ?:
Times Staff .them, ,.:!y.-,
,-WASHINGTON-Israeli. intelL..
lience._naLthe-Rea an Adminis.
t tration. was a? major source of some
of the most dramatic u isn re-
?orts a ut a "b assassination...
team egedly sent 'dent'
Re arkand+gthezto :... nfficfals~:~
. a Imes as Learned. ., - r?, .. .
e.purpas of tiiigdetails:l:
,--of. the affairi~sescls as assertions'be'.,
lieved to come-from Israeli sources
that- .'the - s interhatioaal . terrorist::
knowiras' Carlos. was in command .
..of '-lilt squads"-and that such teams'
,.were already in Meadco or Canada;=:-
.was ? not':,immediately clear... Ac-'~ ?
counts of Carla invoivement?were,
carried in newspaperand television
ireports earlier this week
-: ~YVsntedool:$aeaea': ~ ti~ ~ ~,.,
"-: But, Israel.; which informed.
sources said has ."wanted an excuse,
-Lo go in and bash Libya for a long
.time," may be trying to build Amer-
jean publie;'support for a strike
i
:oam_,,.
n l st
r
ma
-r
t~
1_,ibya
on
g
n
ln
s
:ija
v
_
~
~y
a
~
n
~
l
.S
~
'mar
f_ Air_Lsraeli embassy-spokesinanr
here said he had no com.-nenfoathe %1
'report of Israeli involvement:; %
I
o
Is-raeb is not alone in wishing t
..-?
curb Kadafiof course Senior pol ti
cal officialaof the Reagan Adminia-..j?
tratioriL'af havL looked-hard' for,
ways. to uadermiae. tl:e Libyan"
leader.,whdisviewed here ag a me- a
galomamaclwho-uses his cc ntr ;
oil' revenues to. support teriprisia
around the world: -,: ? _,:
American officialzinsist that the
specific details on the assassination`
plot that Israel fed to the news me-
I dia.had little effect on U.S. govern--i
went decisioa9,'although? theyt. say..?,
the:..dramatic details heightened.."
public anxiety much more than the
evidence merited.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
12 December 1981
'Moreover. Reagan Administration sources them-
selves have said the United States has "unequivocal"
evidence that Kadafi had teams trained to kill U.S. lead-
`ers, including U.S. diplomats abroad. And U.S: sources
contributed to reports that additional but somewhat less.
conclusive evidence came from a defector about the dis..
=patch of.those'hit squads toward the United States and.
the weapons they carried '. ;~` , ?,
The Administration's decision to Invalidate U.S. pass-
: ports for travel to Libya, which is spurring an exod6b(.
American`employees there, and U.S. diplomatic noted
to Kadafi. promising "severe retribution'.' if Libyan
:: teams do kill any U.S. officials,?.were prepared befora~
last weekend's rash of alarmist stories, officials ~? ? Hype' In Media ' ~s ~- T
? , lsraell information, particularly on the alleged role of .
.Carlos (whose real name is Ilich? Ramirez San c'ne Y' in.
the plot, was part of, what one high official earlier in the,
;week called "the hype" given the 'story in the U.S. me:
, dla. ,F wf
One investigative source identified the Israelis?as'tlie?;
distributors of the Carlos story. Another said the Israelis j
had "jumped on the bandwagon," with newsmen of sQv-?
::~ ; f.
eral'media organizations tipped at the same time
It was one day after the news accounts appeared that
,the U.S. government received its first and apparently-.j
only report abpyt a iossibleCarlos ro
~. yr
Repots oil Mealco , s j ' " t
:
r.,:-:Israel alsowas?cited as being the source for reports'
ithis; assassination squads were in'Meidcoy
,waiting for.a6.opportunity to cross into this country.;,
iSoine U.S. `Q ficlalf have complained that such reports,;
were more'`,spec fio and alarmipg than the availabla
evidence would warrant.
.=:Chief among thepossibilities is that the Israelis wisliA.
'to-intenyify,the .U.S. public''con'cern about Kadaft so'
,that American's would cupporf a strike at Libya, perhaps ti
t'at Kadafi's Hessian-supplied nuclear research reactor. ' :
?;~After Israeli warplanes bombed Baghdad in June to`
q~A l'Menachera Begin Is-.
des y,. miclear reactor, Gael s primie yatnister charged that the Iraqis were plan
tiipg to divertTnuclear'materlala'frbm the reactor to
build an atomic .l?omb. 'We shall not allow any enemyto
develop wear of mass destruction against 'us, j he:
said ` ? ~' 1 ; ~ ~ " r fc'
?: The Libyan; reactor is smaller 'and. less.threatening-
ihan that, de$trgyed Iraq.' experts: here said, but i
'could provide. the rptionale for afraid that might desta'-.
,_balizg, Kadafi'.s.";regime. Falling piL revenues ' already.
have produced signs of unrest in Libya.
go-erti-
Several years ago the French and Egyptian
;Tnentshad tentative talks on an effort to overthrow Ka-
dali, a%;cording to reports. No detailed planning was
&
? Reagan Administration o,ficials expected to be a3y ti
to'support the move If It. materialized, but the elects ~
efeat of French President Valery Discard d'Estaing
the:spring, followed by' the assassination of Anwar-gst-j
dal' of Egypt, ended' the .scheme. Secretary of''SLate
! Alexander M. Haig 'Jr. initially sought ways. to heu6:42
~?luxe Kadafi but-etas persuaded that the mosf'proini'
I bout .was to }bleed" his forces occupying Chad.Kadafi;
l.guffered.more than 1,000 dead in that neighboring cou
try 1te fora ~y, uptt withdrawing his troops last inonth
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/10: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505410092-7