Pan Am Flight 103 CIA Files.pdf - Paperless Archives

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Libya: Revie~ng Terrorist
Capabilities (..... . . ~
- ':B;f
Terrorism has been a key clement of Libyan leader
Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi's foreign policy since he carne
to power in 1969. He has formed an internal organizatio'n
to direct, support, and encourage terrorist operations
by Libyan agents and clients.' gather intelligence.
and enlist the support of radicals worldwide.
Over the years the ties that Qadhafi has developed to
terrorist groups have extended his reach and increased
his fircpower_ He may have achieved sufficient con­
1985 Qadhafi apparently decided to back more destructive,
indiscriminate attacks by clients. Tripoli
provided passports to Abu Nidal organiz3tion(ANO)
terrorists who attacked the EI AI ticket counter at the
Vienna,uirport in December 1985. In the spring.Qf 63-
1986.@i Iii . ,it( .lljJTr!poli to the-at~!T
the La Belle dtsco In Berlm, (eadlng to the US_ ~
airstrikes on Tripoli and Bangha;z.i on 15 APfil.~ .133
trol over a few of his clients to allow him to make the The airstrikes stunned Qadhafi and resulted in a- .
choice of target and timing of an attack. His influence spasm of retaliatory violence followed by a period of
over others has probably resulted in several terrorist quiescenceA~he 10 days arter the strikes, Qadkafi ...
operations that have accorded with his goals. ~:ed was linked to a number of1eh~rist attacks:
Background
Qadhafi's co~mitmcnt to terrorism as an instrument
of policy spans most of his 19-year rule. In 1972
Qadhafi publicly oITcred to help any anti-Western
revolutionary organization-as well as the Provisional
Irish Rep~bl~can Army (PIRA) and the Black Power
movement In the United States-and to equip any
Arab willing to strike Israel. Later the same year he
delivered on some of his promiscs by giving sanctuary
to the Palestinian terrorists who massacred II Israeli
athletes during the M'unich Ol)'mpic Games. Qadhafi
dispatched his own agents to strike Israeli targets as
early as 1973, when five Libyans were arrested at the
international airport in Rome. where they planned to
shoot down an El Al jet with a shoulder-fired missile.
In 1977 Qadhafi plolted to kill the US Ambassador to
Egypt-his first known attempt on a US targct-evcn
after assuring the new President. Jimmy Carter. lhat
he wante~mprovc relations with Wa~hington.
Qadhafi-s~perativeS began to stalk Libyan dissidents
in the mid-I 970s-following a n unsuccessful attempt
to overthrow the4-ibyan.leade'F=-'::'and have focused
primarily on exiie~-sinee then, killing ~t least 20. (n
· Dr.O •• I.·,IE rr.n ....
)Libyan involvement
in the shooting of a US Embassy communicator
in Khartoum on 16 April.
• British Foreign Secretary 1·lowe publicIy linked
Libya to the murder of two Brilish lcachers and onc
US hostage~~~":1911 oIJ19~il:-
• Two Libyans were apprehended on 18 April as they
attempted to attack the US officers club in Ank'lra
with handgrenades obtained from the Libyan People's
Bureau (LPP) there:-Thc Libyans said they had
been inslrucled t