Funds Sought to Guard Foreign Envoys in U.S.

Threats against foreign ambassadors stationed in Washington have prompted a Reagan Administration decision to seek funds next month to provide full-time bodyguards for some envoys, it was reported Wednesday.

The plan is part of an effort to improve security for U.S. embassies and personnel overseas, according to the New York Times. The bodyguards would accompany the ambassadors whenever they leave their embassies in Washington or travel elsewhere in the United States, a senior State Department official told the newspaper in an interview.

Robert E. Lamb, director of the State Department’s newly formed Bureau of Diplomatic Security, declined to be specific about the nature of the threats or their intended victims. But he said the Administration next month will formally request the funds to provide the bodyguards.

Lamb refused to say which ambassadors are likely to receive the U.S. protection.

Current Security Measures

At present, the United States provides no bodyguards for foreign ambassadors. The Secret Service stations uniformed officers outside foreign embassies, but ambassadors’ personal security has been left to their governments.

The entire counterterrorist program is to be financed initially under a five-year, $5.5-billion State Department proposal, the newspaper said. The plan has been “substantially approved” by the Office of Management and Budget for inclusion in President Reagan’s budget message to Congress in February, Lamb said.

The newspaper quoted one official as saying the Administration, despite sharp cost-cutting measures throughout the government, will seek a supplemental request of about $500 million for fiscal 1986 and about $1.4 billion for fiscal 1987.

Rise in Budget

That represents a sharp rise in funds sought for the State Department, which is receiving about $4 billion in fiscal 1986 and is seeking $5 billion for 1987, not including the special funds for security, Lamb said.

He said he expects that about 10 envoys would be eligible for bodyguards at any one time but that the number would fluctuate depending on actual threats.

A spate of bombings against Americans overseas touched off a large-scale Administration effort to bolster security for U.S. embassies and overseas personnel. The domestic protection plan for foreign ambassadors here was characterized as part of that overall effort.

The last significant attack--against the American Embassy annex in Beirut in September, 1984--occurred more than a year ago.