Reagan Says Kadafi Threat Isn’t Worthy of an Answer : Libyan Chief Linked to Child Killers

President Reagan scorned a threat by Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi today, saying he does not respond to anyone who approves of terrorist attacks on children.

Arriving in Los Angeles after spending New Year’s in Palm Springs, Reagan was asked about Kadafi’s warning that any retaliation by Israel and the United States for the airport bombings in Rome and Vienna would lead to a “tit for tat” cycle of violence and include Libyans harassing “American citizens in their own streets.”

“I don’t answer fellows who think it’s all right to shoot 11-year-old girls,” Reagan said, a reference to Natasha Simpson, an American girl killed in the Rome attack Dec. 27.

Nineteen people have died and more than 100 were wounded as a result of last Friday’s attacks by Palestinian terrorists--using machine guns and hand grenades--on El Al ticket counters at airports in Rome and Vienna.

To Meet Mexican President

Reagan was in Los Angeles to prepare for his meeting Friday with Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid in Mexicali, Mexico.

In the Libyan capital of Tripoli today, protesters converged for mass anti-American demonstrations following Kadafi’s warning to the United States.

Western diplomats said they expected state-sanctioned anti-American protests to begin late today or Friday, and state-run Libyan television reported that some protests had already erupted outside the capital.

Preparations for the demonstrations came a day after Kadafi warned that Israeli or American retaliation for the terror attacks would spark a cycle of violence, with Libyans harassing “American citizens in their own streets.”

War Threatened

Kadafi said any attack against Libya to avenge the airport attacks would trigger an outright war in the Middle East and Mediterranean. He also said he would welcome U.S. or Israeli reprisal.

Kadafi justified the Palestinian attacks as revenge for Israel’s Oct. 1 raid on the Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, that left 68 people dead. Israel said it carried out the attack to avenge the murders of three Israelis in Cyprus.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Charles Redman said, “We particularly abhor Kadafi’s making excuses for the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent men, women and children and rejecting the fact that these were pure acts of terrorism. Beyond this, we will not dignify his remarks.”

Americans Felt Safe

Diplomats said they doubted the 1,500-strong American community in Libya would be harmed during the planned demonstrations because of Libya’s need for U.S. technical assistance. U.S. companies are deeply involved in Libya’s oil industry.

“It would be a major mistake to bother Americans in Libya,” a diplomat said. “They would leave en masse. None is here for love of Libya but for the love of money. There are limits to the risk one takes for high salaries.”

Authorities investigating the virtually simultaneous airport attacks in Rome and Vienna believe they were staged by the break-away Palestinian faction led by Abu Nidal.

Israel and the United States have accused Libya of backing Abu Nidal, who once worked with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat but broke with him, claiming Arafat was too moderate in his fight against Israel.

Kadafi defended Abu Nidal today, saying there are “millions of Abu Nidals among the Palestinian people.”