Libyan Threats Spur Safety Check of Bases

Morning traffic backed up at Navy bases here Friday, as military officials heeded the Pacific Fleet commander’s admonition “to maintain physical security” in the wake of U.S.-Libyan clashes in the Gulf of Sidra.

Adm. James A. (Ace) Lyons sent “the reminder” to all installations under his command. The results in the San Diego area Friday were hourslong traffic snarls, as many of the 100,000 military and 23,000 civilian employees in the area reported for work.

Police in San Diego and the City of Coronado, across San Diego Bay, said Friday morning commuters going to work at or near major naval facilities between 5 and 9 a.m. experienced delays of an hour or more.

While the Navy gave no indication as to how long the precautions will last, the Coronado Police Department issued a warning Friday evening that weekday rush-hour commuters should expect stalls of “two hours or more . . . for an indefinite period of time.”

Since the tiny city is a narrow peninsula, the police said there is no way for commuters to avoid the traffic snarls, as long as the Navy continues the extraordinary measures at the North Island Naval Air Station.

Spokesmen at Navy and Marine Corps bases in California, and those at the command center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, would not say whether the message from Lyons, which base commanders received Thursday, was prompted by calls from Libyan officials for Arab “suicide squads” to attack U.S. installations and embassies worldwide.

However, an aide to U.S. Rep. Duncan L. Hunter (R-San Diego), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said military officials had reluctantly confirmed that it was related to the Libyan situation.

At entrances to all 11 bases in the San Diego area, sentries made car-by-car identification checks and some “random searches” in response to Lyons’ message. Capt. Peter Litrenta, spokesman for the San Diego area installations, declined to say what other steps had been taken to increase security on the bases.

In San Francisco, Lt. Cmdr. Fred Gorell, spokesman for 10 major bases in that area, was even more vague.

“We do have an ongoing security consideration, and recently, our activity in that regard has increased,” Gorell said.

A spokesman at the Long Beach Naval Station had no comment, but police said there had been no apparent changes this week in traffic flow around the base.

No Specific Orders

Master Chief Petty Officer Tom Streeter said by telephone from Pacific Fleet headquarters in Pearl Harbor that Lyons’ message, which went to the commanders of all bases under his command, did not contain specific orders regarding steps to be taken.

“It was just a reminder to our Pacific Fleet bases of the need to maintain physical security,” Streeter said. “Security is an ongoing thing.”

The U.S. 6th Fleet, which sank two Libyan patrol boats and damaged a third vessel and a missile base after U.S. warplanes were fired upon this week, has ended maneuvers in the Gulf of Sidra. On Wednesday, however, Libya’s official radio called on Arabs to retaliate by launching attacks on U.S. installations and embassies worldwide.

Military Clashes

Intelligence officials said earlier that security has been tightened at U.S. posts in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America since this week’s military clashes with Libya.

John Miller, West Coast regional spokesman for the U.S. Customs Service, said the agency, which oversees borders and major sea and air entries into the country, has not taken any specific security measures since the skirmishes began. However, Miller said vigilance can be heightened at a moment’s notice under guidelines that have been in effect since the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Airlines, however, have begun warning international travelers to get to airports early, because beefed-up security measures are already causing delays.

“They are telling everybody to get there two hours . . . ahead of flight time,” said Gayle Hilleary-Orth, manager of a Sacramento travel agency.

Airport Vigilance

While security measures at Los Angeles International Airport are kept confidential, a spokeswoman said, “It’s safe to say there is increased awareness of potential problems,” noting that this has been true since the airport terrorist attacks in Rome and Vienna in December.

Navy officials in San Diego confirmed that security measures were increased only after San Diego police issued a citywide traffic alert, warning of lengthy delays near the entrances of the three largest bases--the 32nd Street Naval Base, the Miramar Naval Air Station and the North Island Naval Air Station.

By midmorning, the traffic problems had eased.