Shultz Accuses Libya of Causing Discord in Pacific

Secretary of State George P. Shultz today accused Libya of sowing “discord and subversion” in the South Pacific and said the Soviet Union is trying to undercut U.S.-Australian interests in the region.

Shultz, in a statement that opened talks with Australian leaders, also sought to ease Australian concerns about U.S. agricultural subsidies viewed here as unfair tactics in a fight for world markets.

Shultz and Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger held their annual consultations with their Australian counterparts at a time of growing concern about what Shultz called “outside interference” in a region dominated by the West since World War II.

In recent months, Australian officials have said Libyan agents have sought to provide financial backing and training to political figures in some of the tiny independent island states in the Pacific. Among steps taken by Australia have been expulsion of Libyan diplomats and the closing of the Libyan Embassy.

Shultz signaled his concern, saying: “As your government has been so effective in pointing out, the efforts of Libya to sow discord and subversion within the region should be a cause of concern to regional governments.

“Nor can we forget that the Soviet Union, which has used its support for Vietnamese armed intervention in Cambodia to establish Cam Rahn Bay, the largest Soviet military base outside the Soviet Union, is engaged in a fishing expedition in the South Pacific aimed at increasing its regional presence.”

Under an agreement signed with the island nation of Vanuatu, the Soviet Union has secured shore facilities, which Western analysts say can be used by fishing trawlers disguised as intelligence ships.

“What are they fishing for?” Shultz asked. “We can assume that the Soviet Union will go on taking diplomatic, commercial, intelligence and other initiatives in the region aimed in part at undercutting vital alliance interests in the Pacific.”