Pan Am Flight 103 CIA Files.pdf - Paperless Archives

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Qadhafi has suppor'tl!d' a number of other terrorist or
-, sub .. ersive groups around the world that have anti-
Western biases.~_.II.III •••• III.IIIIi.iiI
recovered from the airstrikes a!; well as from his
disastrous military defeat by Chad in 1987. In particular,
the following developments have been instrum~ntal
in restoring Qadhafi's political streneth:
• Antiregime sentimenl in thc armed forces has recedcd,
The cease-fire with Chad in Seotember 1987
relieved one of the most salient grievances the
officers corps held against Qadhafi; and in early
1988 Qadhafi instituted economic and poli,tica,e,'i
for s that have increased his general support _
riots tnv~lving fundamentalist clem . ts in ~o
not yet appear to have under~ined Q3dha1tl$ a~
thority. Although Qadhafi's domestic standing .
could be quickly threatened-by renewed, fi.ghting
in Chad in which Libyan troops fared badly"'far
exampl~his control oTlJie regime is probably the
most secure it has beeri'1.ince the US airstriRes~
• Foreign pressure on Qadhafi has eased. In the past
18 months Qadha'fi has moved to restore diplomatic
relations with Iraq and Tunisia and participated in
both the Arab Leag'ue extraordinary summit in
Algiers in June 1988 and two subsequent Maghreb
five-party summits, He has eased his predicament in
Chad h¥~gniziqg Pr..eside-1!.t Habreand escaped
We believe that. as with Qadhafi's other client
condemnation at the Organization of African Unity
groups. pressure on -them to~nduct terrorist opera- summit in May 1988 despite being linked to an
tions against targe~ of his chqosing in exchange for _ a'29rted terrorist operation in Senegal. He has also
rCl;pc,"l/~,:":,,"lioSted visits by the heads of stale of nine African
countries .••••
West European senltment is also softening;
hosted an official visit by Qaahafi's orin.:ir:)al
'Abd ai-Salam lallud, in N()velmber;,
.Qadhafi's hard-won current strength could be quickly
undermined, however, if he is clearly linked to a new
terrorist act and comes under renewed
Despite recent incidents of internal unrest, Qadhafi
ha~rown politically! more secure during the past
yca~and that will enable him to devote more time to
implementing his terrorism agenda. He has clearly
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