Spain Ousts Libyan Diplomat for Aiding Right-Wing Activity

Spain today ordered the immediate expulsion of a Libyan diplomat for arranging a clandestine meeting between Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and a Spanish army officer seeking financing for right-wing extremist activities in Spain.

A government statement said Libyan Consul General Saad Ismail was ordered to leave Spain today “for taking part in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status.”

The statement also said security police arrested Lt. Col. Carlos Meer de Rivera, a provincial governor, today after an investigation that began in January when the officer met with Ismail and subsequently traveled to Libya to see Kadafi.

Socialist government spokesman Javier Solana told reporters that Spanish intelligence forces monitored the meeting between the colonel and the Libyan diplomat in January when the visit with Kadafi was set up. He said “firm proof” of the officer’s complicity with Kadafi surfaced this week.

The Libyan diplomat arranged the visa and tickets to Tripoli, where the two traveled via Orly airport in Paris, he said.

Spaniard Acted Alone

“The information we have now does not indicate that the finances ever came through,” he said.

Solana said the investigation indicated that Meer de Rivera, 56, acted alone in his attempt to get Kadafi to finance extreme right-wing activities in Spain.

Solana said the government is considering breaking diplomatic relations with Libya.

Meer de Rivera, known for his close links to ultra-right groups, served as military defense attorney for one of the army officers implicated in the Feb. 23, 1981, attempt by rebellious army and civil guard troops to overthrow the centrist government of Adolfo Suarez.

“This proves that the Libyan regime supports both extreme right and extreme left activities,” Solana told reporters.

‘Extremists of All Kinds’

“I think we can conclude that the Libyan regime is giving support to extremists of all kinds in Spain and other countries and, in saying all kinds, I mean extreme right and extreme left,” he added.

Under the authoritarian regime of Gen. Francisco Franco, Meer de Rivera served as governor of the Balearic Islands and in the Ministry of Information and Tourism.

Ismail was one of four remaining Libyan diplomats at his country’s embassy in Madrid.

Two weeks ago, Spain ordered the expulsion of two Libyan diplomats and eight Libyan teachers and students, and last December the government expelled two diplomats and an administrative employee of the embassy.

Meeting on Majorca

Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez met with Kadafi on the Mediterranean island of Majorca in December, 1984, reportedly to dissuade the Libyan leader from funding the Basque terrorist group ETA.

The substance of their talks was not made public. News reports at the time indicated that Kadafi had given $900,000 to ETA, which has claimed responsibility for killing more than 500 police and military officers since 1968.

Allegations of Libyan support for Basque separatist guerrillas have frequently appeared in the Spanish press, but the government has said it has no evidence of the backing.

Solana said Meer de Rivera, who is now military governor of Avila province, had been taken to a military prison. Solana did not specify what charges were filed against Meer de Rivera.