U.S. Embassy in Tunisia Heavily Guarded After Bomb Threats, Protests

Armored vehicles and riot police Thursday guarded the U.S. Embassy after bomb threats and demonstrations prompted by President Reagan’s support for an Israeli air raid on Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters here.

In Jerusalem, Israeli television reported that the jets used in the raid were U.S.-built F-15s rather than F-16s as reported earlier. The F-15 has two engines while the F-16 is a lightweight single-engine fighter.

Israeli television said the U.S. Defense Department has asked Israel’s embassy in Washington what aircraft were involved in the raid because sale agreements require Israel to use equipment made in the United States only for defensive purposes.

The television report said Israeli officials, who were not identified, contended that the planes were employed in self-defense against terrorists, thus complying with the stipulation. Israel’s military command refused comment.

An aide to PLO chief Yasser Arafat accused the United States of direct involvement in the raid. He charged that the United States provided refueling facilities for Israeli jets in Tuesday’s attack.

Denies U.S. Helped

An embassy spokeswoman, while not denying that the American 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean would have detected the planes on their mission, said no U.S. help was given.

She said the embassy has received bomb threats and, after anti-U.S. street demonstrations Wednesday, all non-essential American personnel have been told to stay home.

American offices other than the embassy, including the U.S. Information Agency and the Agency for International Development, have been closed since Wednesday. Their staffs are working at the more secure embassy compound, she said. Two armored vehicles and riot police were standing guard outside.

Forty-eight hours after the raid, there was still no definitive death toll. Hospital sources said 54 civilians died, but there were unconfirmed reports that 25 more bodies had been taken to a military hospital. The government Wednesday put the death toll at 60, and the PLO said 70 people were killed.

Call for Break

Five Tunisian opposition parties, including the biggest recognized group, the Movement of Democratic Socialists, Thursday called on the government to sever relations with Washington because of Reagan’s support for the attack.

Reagan called the raid a justified retaliatory strike. However, Secretary of State George Shultz, in commenting on the raid, later condemned all acts of violence.

The opposition parties strongly denounced the raid in a joint communique and called for a national day of mourning. At least 12 Tunisians were among the victims.

President Habib Bourguiba has strongly criticized the U.S. position supporting Israel and expressed his profound regret at Washington’s reaction.

Relations between Tunisia and Washington have been traditionally close. Washington has given sustained support to Tunis in its bitter dispute with Libya over Tripoli’s expulsion of more than 30,000 Tunisian migrant workers.

Adding to PLO charges of U.S. involvement in the raid, Abu Iyad, deputy leader of the PLO’s Fatah guerrilla group, said a North Atlantic Treaty Organization base in a European country was used for refueling the Israeli planes. He declined to name the country.

Blow to Peace Talks

He told a press conference the raid was a major blow to the Middle East peace process, but he said the PLO planned to carry on with a joint peace initiative with Jordan.

Jordan’s King Hussein and Arafat signed an accord in Amman in February calling for an Israeli withdrawal from Arab territory occupied in 1967, an international peace conference and the setting up of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation.

The PLO wants the next step in the process to be a meeting between a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation and the United States, which refuses to recognize the PLO until it accepts Israel’s right to exist.

Asked about a guerrilla raid that killed three Israelis on a yacht in Cyprus last week--one reason cited by Israel for launching its air strike--Abu Iyad said he believes the vessel was spying on the movements of boats from Cyprus to Lebanon. He declined to say which organization was responsible for the killing of the Israelis.