U.S. Readies 3-Prong Plan to Fight Libyan Terrorism : U.S. Readying Plans for Fighting Libyan Terrorism

U.S. officials are pursuing a package of actions--including making plans for another military strike--to head off renewed terrorist actions sponsored by Libya, Administration officials said today.

The officials said a three-pronged effort, combining covert activities and tightening the economic screws on Libya with plans for new military action, was undertaken because of indications that Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi is resuming his support for international terrorism.

The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. and West European intelligence sources, reported today that Kadafi has “gone off his rocker again” and has begun planning new terrorist attacks after a lull that followed April’s U.S. bombing raid against Tripoli and Benghazi.

Back in Business

The officials, who insisted that they not be identified, told United Press International that the CIA has become convinced the volatile Libyan leader is moving back into the terrorism business.

The White House had no comment on the reports. President Reagan is vacationing in California.

The officials described a concentrated effort by the United States to exploit what is seen as Kadafi’s domestic vulnerability, melding unspecified covert activities and efforts to encourage U.S. allies to tighten an economic embargo against Libya to undermine his rule.

Contingency Plans

The Pentagon is drawing up contingency plans for sterner military action against Libya in the event that renewed terrorist actions are traced to Kadafi, the officials said. The April attack was launched in retaliation for the bombing of a West Berlin night club that killed two people and injured scores of American servicemen.

The Journal quoted a senior U.S. official as saying, “We know the Libyans have forgotten the lesson they learned last April.” Another top official told the newspaper that Kadafi “seems to have gone off his rocker again.”

The report coincided with the beginning of U.S.-Egyptian military exercises in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya. However, U.S. officials said the exercises would not be conducted near Kadafi’s “line of death” across the Gulf of Sidra.

There have been frequent reports that Kadafi’s rule is under challenge, and he went into seclusion after the surprise April bombing raid--the first military assault ordered by Reagan to back up his anti-terrorism campaign.

The Journal said the United States has prepared a three-pronged program of military, covert and economic actions intended to preempt more Libyan-sponsored terrorism, to exacerbate political and economic tensions in Libya, and to remind Kadafi and his inner circle that promoting terrorism may be hazardous to their health.