Britain Links Libyan Airlines to Terrorism

Britain said Saturday that Libyan Arab Airlines is “clearly implicated” in terrorist-related activity, and a Foreign Office official said the government will consider banning flights by the state-owned airline.

The announcement followed the conviction Friday of a Palestinian doctor on charges of receiving four grenades at London’s Heathrow Airport from a man in a Libyan Arab Airlines uniform. Prosecutors said the grenades were for use in terrorist attacks in Britain.

Rasmi Awad, 43, who has dual Jordanian and Spanish citizenship, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after his conviction in the Old Bailey criminal court.

The news media said police and security services are on alert for terrorist reprisals. The Home Office and Scotland Yard, as a matter of policy, refuse to comment on security issues.

A Foreign Office statement said: “The government is gravely concerned that this case clearly implicates Libyan Arab Airlines in terrorist-related activity.

“The government remains determined to be tough on terrorists and those who assist them. . . . Ministers are urgently considering what further action to take in this case.”

A Foreign Office spokesman, who by custom was not identified, said possible action includes a ban on Libyan Arab Airline flights to Britain. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet is expected to discuss the issue this week.

The Libyan airline has three flights each week to London. No British airline now flies directly to Libya.

Britain broke relations with Libya in April, 1984, after a London policewoman was fatally shot during a Libyan dissident demonstration. Britain said she was shot by a Libyan from inside the embassy.