Bonn Expels 5 Syrian Envoys Over Bombing : Allies Ban Others From West Berlin After Court Links Attack to Damascus’ E. German Embassy

West Germany on Thursday ordered five Syrian Embassy diplomats to leave the country as a result of a West Berlin court’s finding that Syrian officials were involved in the bombing of the headquarters of the German-Arab Friendship Society there.

The government also downgraded its diplomatic relations with Syria by announcing that a new Bonn ambassador would not be appointed to succeed the former envoy, who was rotated from his post in Damascus on Nov. 11.

At the same time, Western military Allies in West Berlin said they were banning “certain Syrian citizens” from the Western sector of the divided city because of the finding of Syrian involvement in the bombing.

The order was expected to apply to Syrians living in East Berlin, whether they are diplomats or private citizens.

Economic Cooperation Curbed

While the West German government’s action fell short of breaking diplomatic relations, Bonn also said that there would be no new economic cooperation between the countries and that Syrian one-journey passports would no longer be recognized.

The Syrian government has denied any complicity in the bombing last March 29, but a West Berlin court on Wednesday accepted as valid testimony by two Palestinians that the bomb they used was picked up at the Syrian Embassy in East Berlin.

The defendants, Ahmed Nawaf Mansour Hasi and Farouk Salameh, said they had dealt with a Syrian intelligence officer named Haytham Saed, who is now being sought by West Germany on a warrant for attempted murder for his alleged role in the bombing.

In the Thursday statement, the West German government blamed “Syrian sources” and “agencies” rather than the Damascus regime itself, leaving open the suggestion that Syrian intelligence personnel might have operated without the knowledge of Syrian ambassadors.

‘In Contempt of Rules’

“West Germany considers the involvement of Syrian agencies as found in the Berlin court’s decision of Nov. 26 to be in contempt of fundamental rules governing relations between states,” said the official statement issued by the government here.

“The Syrian government must accept that the behavior of its agencies will be attributed to it.”

The Bonn government said that Damascus should back its verbal denunciation of terrorism with preventive action, adding “the federal government asks the Syrian government to stop any support of groups or persons involved in terrorist actions.”

West Germany said it will complain officially to the East German regime about the activities of the Syrian Embassy in East Berlin in “terrorist attacks in West Berlin.”

Bonn said it was also contacting the three Allied powers--the United States, Britain, and France--which still officially govern West Berlin. That resulted in the Allied order restricting movement of Syrians into West Berlin from the Eastern sector.

Similar action was taken against Libyan personnel after the United States charged that the Libyan Embassy in East Berlin played a role in the April bombing of a West Berlin discotheque patronized by off-duty American service people. Three people, including two Americans, were fatally hurt in that bombing and more than 200 were injured.

Attache’s Staff Cut

In its statement, the Bonn government said that three Syrian diplomats would be ordered to leave the country within one week and that the military attache’s staff must be reduced from four officers to two.

“Until further notice, no new West German ambassador to Syria will be named,” the announcement added.

Hasi was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for his role in the bombing, which injured nine people, and Salameh was sentenced to 13 years.

Hasi’s brother, Nezar Hindawi, was jailed for 45 years in London last month for attempting to smuggle explosives aboard an El Al Israel Airlines jetliner. As a result of that case, Britain broke diplomatic relations with Syria and called on its European Communities partners to impose sanctions against Damascus.

In Washington, the State Department praised the West German actions and said the United States will consult with its allies to consider what additional steps should be taken to counter terrorism.

“We welcome the actions taken today by the Federal Republic of Germany,” a State Department spokesman said. “The trial in Berlin and the steps taken by the German government, along with the British, EEC (European Economic Community) and U.S. measures, which followed the Hindawi trial in London, are another demonstration of the growing recognition of the need to take action against countries which support international terrorism.”