U.S. Scoffs at Kadafi’s Terrorist Link Denial : Says It Has ‘Firm Evidence’ That Libya Harbors Training Camps and Has Sheltered Abu Nidal

Scoffing at assertions by Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, White House spokesman Larry Speakes said Monday that the Reagan Administration has “firm evidence” that Libya harbors training camps for terrorists and has provided sanctuary for Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal.

Kadafi regularly gives Abu Nidal, who has been blamed for last month’s terrorist attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports, “a place to stay and money,” Speakes said. Also, he added, Abu Nidal is “a frequent visitor” to the terrorist training camps.

In a televised interview Sunday, Kadafi protested that no network of training camps exists in Libya. And although he has admitted that Abu Nidal has been in Libya, he has denied that the radical Palestinian is involved with any such camps.

‘Not on Vacation’

But, one White House official asked sarcastically Monday, “what’s the guy doing there? He’s not going there on vacation.”

The Administration had to settle for a war of words over the camps’ existence because, Speakes contended, disclosure of evidence about the sites would endanger intelligence sources. But Speakes declared flatly that Kadafi’s protestations of innocence are “patently untrue.”

The White House spokesman conceded, however, that the Administration had known about the camps for at least a year. When asked why no action was taken earlier, Speakes retorted: “What would you suggest we do?”

Indeed, the exchange pointed up the Administration’s seeming inability to formulate an appropriate military response to stem Libya’s terrorist activities and to retaliate for the bloody Dec. 27 airport attacks, in which 15 travelers, including five Americans, were killed.

The terrorists are believed to be members of Abu Nidal’s violent faction, which was expelled from the mainstream Palestine Liberation Organization in 1974.

Administration policy has long been that the target of any retaliatory response be limited to terrorist bases and not be carried out in a way that would inflict bloodshed on innocent people. And it is generally agreed that the chances of finding the right conditions for such a strike are fairly remote, despite the Administration’s tough rhetoric.

Asked if military action is imminent, Speakes responded, “Those responsible and those actively involved should be kept guessing and not sleep well at night.”

Nonetheless, with the military option appearing increasingly unlikely and Israel apparently unwilling to take the lead in punishing the perpetrators, the Administration could do little else but continue to implore its Western allies to join in a limited economic boycott of the Tripoli regime.

In his first news conference of 1986, President Reagan tonight is expected to press his case for diplomatic and economic isolation of Libya. On Monday, he met with his national security advisers to assess whether there is anything more the United States can accomplish unilaterally, short of taking military action.

U.S. trade with Libya has declined dramatically since 1981, when the Administration first imposed economic sanctions. In 1979, before Reagan took office, export trade reached a high of $860 million, but it plummeted to $200 million by 1984. In addition, the Administration banned the import of Libyan crude oil in 1984.

Although Reagan could announce additional modest sanctions in his news conference, the United States largely has exhausted its economic leverage. Instead, he is expected to mount a further effort to persuade the European Communities to curtail its diplomatic and economic contacts with the Kadafi regime.

Speakes expressed hope that “a growing realization of the threat” posed by Libya makes it “more likely now than ever” that Europe will take action.

Feeling the Heat

Another White House official, meanwhile, reported that talks with U.S. allies are continuing and that the allies are feeling the heat of public opinion in the aftermath of the attacks.

Leaders of these nations know “something has to be done,” this official said. “Their vulnerability is sinking in.”

The Common Market historically has been reluctant to take collective economic action, however. Leading Western nations, including West Germany, Britain, Austria and Italy, Libya’s largest trading partner, already have made it known that they do not approve of economic sanctions as a way to discourage terrorism.

Speakes countered virtually every assertion that Kadafi made in his interview, conducted in a barley field outside Tripoli, but he refused to confirm or deny the existence of the so-called suicide squads that the Libyan leader claims to have placed in the United States.

“We’re always vigilant,” Speakes said at one point.

Remaining on Guard

Pressed on the existence of the alleged death squads, Speakes refused to be specific, saying only that the Administration takes the threats seriously and remains “on guard” against terrorist incidents.

Rumors of Libyan “hit squads” during Reagan’s first term proved to be unfounded, but the Administration cited them as the reason for placing extensive fortifications around the White House and State Department.

Fear of a possible hostage situation often is cited as one cause of European reluctance to clamp down on Libya. The United States faces a similar threat, with up to 1,500 Americans living and working in Libya. But because the Americans are employed by private companies or married to Libyans, the Administration cannot force them to leave.