Reagan Orders Probe of Libya-CIA Leak

President Reagan, described as “very concerned” over a published report that he had authorized a CIA covert operation to undermine the government of Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi, ordered an investigation to find the person responsible for the disclosure “and to take appropriate action,” a White House spokesman said Sunday.

Neither the Justice Department nor the FBI would confirm that they have received the order directing them to investigate.

However, in previous such cases, inquiries have been overseen by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility--roughly the same as an inspector general in other Cabinet agencies--and FBI agents have conducted the actual questioning.

Such investigations, however, are rarely announced, and the White House statement, while brief, served to underline Reagan’s pique that a report of the plan was published.

Report in Post

The Washington Post reported Sunday that the plan involved CIA assistance to another country, or countries, in North Africa and the Middle East opposing the Libyan regime headed by Kadafi. It said the proposal ran into some initial resistance among members of the House and Senate committees on intelligence, which oversee CIA operations.

The Post’s report--part of which was published in the The Times on Sunday--said that the operation was designed to disrupt, preempt and frustrate Kadafi’s subversive and terrorist plans and that it might draw him into an exploit that would give opponents in the Libyan military an opportunity to seize power.

A spokesman for the Senate Intelligence Committee said the panel will have no comment on the report. But an intelligence community source, speaking on the condition that he not be identified by name, said the report is unusual because it contains “an amazing amount of detail.”

White House spokesman Bill Hart said the Administration will have no substantive comment on the allegations.

But he said that Reagan, who was spending the weekend at Camp David, Md., is “very concerned over the unauthorized disclosure of intelligence and classified information.”

In his statement, Hart said:

“While in no way attributing any credence to the specific allegations and conclusions drawn in the Washington Post article on reports concerning Libya, the President is ordering an investigation of the disclosure of the U.S. intelligence documents cited in this news report in an effort to determine who is responsible for such disclosure and to take appropriate action.”

Results Poor

In the past, such investigations have produced a poor record of results, although lie detectors have been employed. However, the internal pressure they generate usually silences normally available news sources because they are usually asked to complete sworn affidavits on whether they have spoken to specific reporters.

Two years ago, Reagan ordered an FBI investigation into leaks about high-level discussions of diplomatic and military strategy in Lebanon. There was no public disclosure of the results.

Sunday’s report, however, drew particular attention because it unveiled a continuing operation, the success of which would depend on the United States not disclosing its responsibility for the action.