U.S. to Rebuild or Move Embassies for Security : $3.5-Billion Program Is Designed to Improve Protection at 126 Facilities Around the World

The State Department said Tuesday that it will rebuild or relocate almost half of the 262 U.S. embassies and consulates around the world at a cost of more than $3.5 billion because a high-level security review has found them to be inadequately protected against physical attack and espionage.

The department also said it will create a new security service to monitor and counter security threats and will provide personal protection for several foreign ambassadors in the United States. The steps are among the recommendations made by an advisory panel headed by Adm. Bobby R. Inman, former deputy director of the CIA.

Could Take Five Years

Robert E. Lamb, an assistant secretary of state who will head the new service, said at a press briefing that he expects to immediately carry out many of the recommendations made public Tuesday. The entire rebuilding program, he said, will take about five years.

The report by the Inman group, formally known as the Advisory Panel on Overseas Security, calls for the replacement or renovation of 126 embassies and consulates, of which 75 must be totally rebuilt. The diplomatic posts where the dramatic overhauling will be necessary were not identified, although Lamb said they are “found in all regions.”

In its conclusions, the Inman report declares: “The panel recognizes the difficulties in generating an effective international response to terrorism and politically inspired violence against diplomats. The effort, however, is urgently needed and should be pursued vigorously.”

In addition, the department’s $129-million budget for all security activities should be tripled, it said. It also urged the expansion of the department’s present security personnel from 800 to more than 1,100 serving in the United States and abroad.

Some of the recommendations dealing with more sensitive intelligence and security matters were classified and not made public. These presumably deal with such issues as safeguarding diplomatic communications.

New Bureau Recommended

The report recommends the creation of a bureau of diplomatic security to centralize the hodgepodge of offices that now attempt to deal with growing threats of terrorism and espionage against diplomatic posts and personnel.

The new bureau, the panel advised, should consolidate the State Department’s existing Office of Security, the Office for Counterterrorism and Emergency Planning, and the diplomatic courier service.

Lamb said the State Department wants to “go on the offensive” in tackling the problems of security, which will include securing and disseminating information about terrorist activities and training employees in countermeasures.

One recommendation that may be carried out soon is the assignment of special agents to “about 10” foreign ambassadors in Washington who are believed to face special risks, he said.

Many Are Older Buildings

Many of the U.S. diplomatic missions found deficient by the Inman group are older buildings, often located in the center of cities, abutting other buildings and on busy streets. Even some newer structures are unsatisfactory, Lamb noted, citing the consulate in Frankfurt, West Germany, which “has a glass wall right on the sidewalk.”

Several hundred million dollars have been spent on increased security at diplomatic posts abroad after the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the attacks on embassies in Pakistan and Libya and the more recent bombings of the Beirut embassy annex and other Mideast missions.

Still, Lamb said, there is a limit to what other measures can be taken to make these existing buildings safer. “There’s just so much you can do in the way of additions,” he said.

‘No Tradeoff’

Asked if new embassies will look like fortresses, he replied: “The secretary (of state) has made clear there will be no tradeoff between image and saving lives.”