U.S. Navy Jets Begin Exercise Near Gulf Claimed by Libyans
The United States started a new round of military maneuvers near Libya on Saturday night with Navy jets flying in the region that includes the disputed Gulf of Sidra, Pentagon sources said.
Although the United States considers most of the gulf to be international waters, Libya claims all of it, and Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi has drawn what he calls a “line of death” across the entrance, warning American ships and planes to stay out or risk confrontation.
It was not immediately clear whether U.S. planes would cross the mouth of the gulf. The United States recognizes only a 12-mile international limit off the coast of the North African nation.
The 6th Fleet exercise involves the aircraft carriers America, Coral Sea and Saratoga and their escorts, a total of at least 30 warships.
President Reagan has accused Libya of sponsoring terrorism and has held Kadafi responsible for last December’s Rome and Vienna airport attacks that killed 20 people.
In August, 1981, two U.S. Navy F-14 jet fighters shot down two Libyan MIG jets in a dogfight over the Gulf of Sidra.
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