Allies Place Tight Curbs on West Berlin Travel

The Allied command on Saturday placed tighter restrictions on travel to West Berlin in an effort to curb terrorist attacks in the wake of the bombing of a discotheque frequented by U.S. servicemen that killed two people and injured 230.

The Allied command asked West Berlin police to “remove from the Western sectors persons identified as posing a threat to the population of Berlin,” said spokesman Peter Boon, reading from an official statement. The Allied command is composed of representatives from the United States, Britain and France.

Boon told reporters that the measure is directed at international terrorists. He refused to say if it applied specifically to Libyans or to other nationalities.

The Allied action came as Libya threatened to ask Warsaw Pact forces for help against what it termed the “aggressive alliance” of the United States and Israel in the event of a U.S. raid in retaliation for recent terrorist attacks.

President Reagan and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl have said Libya is a prime suspect in the April 5 blast at the La Belle discotheque, which killed a U.S Army sergeant from Detroit and a Turkish woman. Of the 230 people hurt, 63 were Americans.

Kohl, at a news conference on Friday, said that “there are a great many indications that the attack on the discotheque in West Berlin also had a Libyan background.”

On Saturday, the Libyan embassy issued a statement denying any involvement in the blast and challenged Kohl to prove his charge that the attack had a “Libyan background.” The embassy claimed that Kohl’s comments were part of a U.S.-led campaign to create a pretext for a long-planned assault on Libya.

Boon said the Allied decision was the most sweeping security order in “a very long time.” He refused to discuss details of how the new security order will be carried out.

But a Western diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said police will tighten controls at entry points into West Berlin, a Western enclave inside East Germany.

Previously, West Berlin police have conducted only spot checks of people coming into town.

The Allied decision gives police increased powers to detain and expel suspected terrorists already in West Berlin.

The Tripoli government’s warning that it will consider asking for Warsaw Pact forces came in a broadcast on Libyan radio, monitored in London by the British Broadcasting Corp.

Israel Support Cited

The broadcast said Israel has promised support for “the aggressive measures which the U.S. imperialist Administration is going to carry out” against Libya.

“This means that Libya is now facing an enemy which extends from Tel Aviv to Washington via NATO,” the radio said, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

As a result, Libya will have to strengthen its existing defense alliance and “might even have to go further and make use of Warsaw Pact forces in confronting this imperialist-Zionist aggressive alliance.”

Meanwhile, a British newspaper reported that Reagan had asked Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to allow him to strike at Libya using American F-111 jets based in Britain.

The newspaper reported that White House sources said the President made his first personal appeal to Thatcher by telephone last Wednesday and her reaction “was cool.”

Thatcher’s office refused to comment on what it called “purely speculative” reports.

In other developments related to the Libya crisis:

--The U.N. Security Council met to consider a resolution by Malta asking for a halt to “any further action that is likely to lead to . . . the used of force” in the U.S.-Libyan dispute. After four hours of debate, the meeting was recessed until Monday. Malta, which has a friendship pact with Libya, also asked for last month’s Security Council debate on the Gulf of Sidra clashes. That three-day debate ended without action.

--Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi said he does not believe there would be clashes between the U.S. and Libya before Monday when Craxi is expected to meet with U.S. Ambassador Vernon A. Walters.