2 Libyan Jets Briefly Close on Navy Plane

A lone U.S. Navy surveillance plane flying off the coast of Libya was intercepted Monday by two Libyan jet fighters, but the fighters made no threatening moves and eventually returned to Libya, Administration sources said today.

The sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said two Soviet-made MIG-25 fighters unexpectedly closed on a Navy EA-3 from the aircraft carrier Coral Sea as the surveillance plane flew over the Gulf of Sidra, to the northeast of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

Libya claims the entire gulf as territorial waters, a contention dismissed by the United States.

After the pilot of the surveillance plane detected the Libyan fighters and notified the Coral Sea, two U.S. F-A-18 fighters were immediately launched by the carrier, one source said. But the Libyans had already moved away by the time the American fighters arrived, the source added.

‘No Menacing Gestures’

“There were two MIGs that showed up and nosed around,” said one source. “They came fairly close. But they made no threats, no menacing gestures.”

Although the sources went out of their way to stress that there was no confrontation, the incident occurred against a backdrop of increased tension between the United States and Libya. The United States has accused Libya of supporting the Palestinian terrorist group thought to have conducted the Dec. 27 attacks on the airports at Rome and Vienna, in which 15 travelers died.

It also occurred as the aircraft carrier Saratoga moved up the Red Sea toward the Suez Canal to join the carrier Coral Sea in the Mediterranean. Pentagon officials continued to refuse to discuss the Saratoga’s movements, but other sources said the carrier is expected to reach the southern end of the canal this afternoon and will enter the Mediterranean on Wednesday.