Common Mart Acts to Restrain Libyans : Agrees to Reduce Embassy Staffs, Limit Movements

Foreign ministers from the 12-member Common Market agreed today to reduce Libyan embassy staffs to a minimum and to limit the movement of Libyan diplomats, Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van den Broek said.

The Common Market ministers also agreed to cut staff levels at their embassies in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, he said.

Libyan diplomats will be restricted “to the place (city) of stationing,” and staffing levels at Libyan airline and trade offices will be examined to determine whether the number of employees should be reduced, Van den Broek said.

The ministers also agreed that any Libyan expelled from a Common Market nation on suspicion of involvement in terrorism will not be admitted to another member nation and that visa requirements will be tightened for Libyans.

‘Signal to Other Countries’

Van den Broek spoke to reporters after he presided over the third Common Market ministerial meeting on Libya in a week. He said the sanctions agreed on were intended as “a signal to other countries that might contemplate involving themselves in terrorism.”

The measures do not require legislative ratification and go into effect automatically.

Libya does not have embassies in all Common Market nations. Britain closed the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984, and Libya’s embassy in Belgium covers the Netherlands as well.

Van den Broek reiterated that the Europeans prefer diplomacy to military actions to solve the U.S.-Libyan crisis.

“The Twelve (European Community nations) underscore that Europe wants to prevent military actions and escalation,” between the United States and Libya, he said. The imposition of diplomatic sanctions “reflects our serious concern about terrorism.”

No Talk of Sanctions

Officials said the issue of economic sanctions against Libya, which the United States asked for in January, was not discussed.

A week ago, at an emergency meeting in the Netherlands, the 12 ministers agreed on the principle of diplomatic sanctions against Libya. Hours later, the United States launched air strikes against Libya in retaliation for what President Reagan said was the North African country’s involvement in international terrorism.

At the same meeting, the Common Market for the first time named Libya as a country involved in sponsoring terrorism.

In Libya, the official news agency, JANA, today said Western European countries will become partners in the “ugly American crime” if they approve sanctions.

A JANA commentary said Libya rejects completely such “strong-headed racist European treatment (as) reducing the number of workers in its people’s bureaus, intensifying the harassment of its citizens and . . . applying restraints on the political and economic cooperation between it and others.”