U.S. Evacuating Some Workers From Sudan

The State Department on Wednesday ordered the U.S. Embassy in Sudan to evacuate nonessential employees and their families and warned other Americans to leave the country because of reports that terrorists are planning new attacks on U.S. citizens, officials said.

Senior Administration officials said they have received reports that dozens of Libyan intelligence agents are using Khartoum as a base of operations. Sudan, an African neighbor of Libya, is ruled by a military regime that has allied itself increasingly with Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi.

“Due to the presence in Khartoum of terrorists posing life-threatening dangers to U.S. citizens, Americans should not travel to the Sudanese capital,” the State Department said in a formal advisory to travelers.

Details to Be Secret

The official notice followed a quiet order to the U.S. Embassy to put most American diplomats and their dependents on flights out of the country, officials said. They added that details of the evacuation would remain secret for security reasons.

One official estimated that about 200 U.S. government employees are in Sudan, with perhaps 200 dependents, and 700 private U.S. citizens.

Both actions came in the wake of the shooting of an embassy communications officer, who was attacked Tuesday night by gunmen who drove up beside his car.

News agencies said Khartoum police identified the diplomat as William Carlos, but the State Department, citing the Privacy Act, has neither disclosed his name nor commented on those reports. Department spokesman Bernard Kalb did say the victim was in serious condition with a single bullet wound in the head and has been evacuated to a hospital in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, where he underwent surgery.

Threats to Diplomats

Secretary of State George P. Shultz said he did not know whether Libya was behind the attack, but he noted that U.S. diplomats in Khartoum had been threatened.

A senior Administration official said the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum was one of about 35 American missions targeted for terrorist attack by Libyan agents, according to intelligence reports.

“We’re obviously very concerned about the security situation there,” a State Department official said. “We’ve had the shooting, we’ve had the threats and we’ve had anti-American demonstrations.”

‘Down, Down, U.S.A.!’

Several hundred demonstrators marched through the Sudanese capital to the embassy on Wednesday shouting, “Down, down, U.S.A.!” Government troops dispersed them with tear gas and night sticks.

The Washington Post reported from Khartoum that the demonstrators included members of a visiting official delegation from Libya.

The State Department last November withdrew some embassy employees and issued a warning against travel to Khartoum, charging that the Sudanese had allowed Libyan agents to operate unchecked. That travel advisory, never lifted, was intensified Wednesday.