Administration Quietly Puts Libya Sanctions Into Effect

Five weeks after the Palestinian attacks at airports in Rome and Vienna, the Reagan Administration on Saturday quietly put into effect the economic sanctions it is imposing against Libya as punishment for what it says is that nation’s support for international terrorism.

While the government drew no attention during the day to its efforts to isolate the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, one official issued a warning that any Americans defying President Reagan’s order that they leave the North African nation would face U.S. prosecution. And, he said, the United States would no longer feel responsible for their safety.

State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb has said that at least half of the estimated 1,000 to 1,500 Americans working in Libya left before the embargo went into effect.

Warning to Those Who Stay

Robert B. Oakley, director of the State Department’s Office for Counterterrorism and Emergency Planning, said in an interview Friday with United Press International that Americans who remain in Libya for “a good paying job” are “better off not coming home.”

“If they come home, they’re subject to up to 10 years in jail and $50,000 fine,” he said.

Administration officials have said that they wanted the Americans to leave to lessen the risk that they could become hostages.

And, said Oakley, “one of the reasons we got our citizens out is to free our hand if we feel the need to take further action.” The only Americans who are permitted to remain in Libya are those who are married to Libyans. They have been encouraged to apply for exemptions to the restrictions on American commerce there, so they can conduct the business of daily life.

Administration officials have said in recent weeks that military action would be considered if economic pressures and other peaceful methods do not lead Kadafi to abandon his support for terrorism. But conflicts have arisen within the government over the use of force. Secretary of State George P. Shultz has repeatedly argued for relaxed restraints, and Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, in public and private statements, has urged caution.

Reagan announced the measures on Jan. 6, in response to the airport attacks on Dec. 27 that took 20 lives, including those of five Americans.

The Administration has pressed ahead with the sanctions despite a lack of support from its allies. Deputy Secretary of State John C. Whitehead failed in a mission to Canada and Europe to encourage the allies to impose their own limitations on trade with Libya.

Since then, two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, the Coral Sea and the Saratoga, spent a week on maneuvers just north of the Gulf of Sidra, which is viewed by Kadafi--but not the United States--as Libyan territorial waters.

The exercises were intended to demonstrate U.S. resolve in the face of threats from Tripoli. Although Libyan aircraft, supplied by the Soviet Union, flew out to observe the maneuvers in the central Mediterranean Sea, no shots were exchanged.

Pentagon officials said further that Soviet-supplied SA-5 missiles, which have extended the Libyan anti-aircraft defenses from 12 miles to about 150 miles, are now operational at the coastal town of Sirte.

In Tripoli, the Libyan capital, hundreds of Americans were seen in recent days boarding airplanes. But many Americans also ignored Reagan’s orders.

In addition, in response to Reagan’s order that commerce between Libya and American firms come to a halt, five oil companies--Amerada-Hess, Continental, Grace, Marathon and Occidental--have stopped marketing Libyan oil. But Libya owns 51% of the local operations and simply took over the American share.