ed
pro/ For e 03/04/18 :LIA-RDP96-00787WO010014309 S
2 M d Am cte
cUcte M Pii
Suspects
are spies
for Libya
By Jerry Seper and Paul Bedard
THE @SHINGTON TIMES
The United States and Britain yes-
terday charged two Libyan intelli-
gence agents with murder and con-
spiracy in the deaths of 270 persons
in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am
Flight 103 over LDckerbie, Scotland.
Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi and
Lamen Khatifa Fhimah, described
as "officers and operatives" of the
Ubyan intelligence agency, are ac-
cused of planting the bomb on the
Boeing 747 jumbo jet and murdering
the 259 persons on board and I I on
the ground.
The two men, both of whom are
believed to be in Libya, are consid-
ered fugitives.
"This investigation is by no means
over," Attorney General-designate
William P Barr, who was deputy at-
torney general when nominated for
the top Justice Department job, said
in announcing the indictment in
Washington.
"Ale will not rest until all those
responsible are brought to justice,
and we have no higher priority."
The indictment was returned by a
federal grand jury. A similar indict-
ment against the two Libyans was
announced simultaneously in Brit-
ain by Scotland's Lord Advocate,
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, who said
Libyan government officials would
be pressed to turn the men over for
trial.
Meanwhile, the White House
strongly indicated that Libyan
leader Col. Moarnmar Gadhafi was
involved in the bombing and sug-
gested that state-spon3ored ter-ror-
ism would be met with diplomatic
and then military retaliation.
In an unusually blunt statement,
White House press secretary Marlin
-c talk'
Fitzwater said, "We at ing
about th; full range of matters hat
Arp available to coup-,rieq in terms of
,their authorities - the diplomatic,
civilian, military. across the whole
gamut"
Senior administration officials
said President Bush already has dis-
cussed retaliation plans with the
leaders of several NATO allies, in-
eluding British Prime 7N
linister John
Major and French President Fran-
-ois Mwe''- ind djscl;,@ioll@
The suspects; Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi (left)
and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah are charged in the
1988 bombing of Flight 103, which killed 270.
014,
have taken place over the past sev-	to turn over, the alleged conspinatiors.	tice.	Security his been'stepped up
cral days.	Mr. Fitzwater and other officials	
We a e considering action, and
r	
around U.S; installations and air
Military options include seizing	made the case for military action by	1,11 leave it at that," he said.	bases out of concern that Libya
the alleged terrorists and senior Lib-	characterizing the @ombmg as state-	As the indictment was an-	might react to the indictment with
yan authorities )J terrorist action-

to
-
!
F
2 Al
i
fi
3
Aft
,
Y11
l
administration I '
they said, the administration would	group. But administration officials	n sponsoring

to play a major role i	
mi
rst major cr
is
nal indictment since being nom-
's
teilm with other nations to pres
-	pressed the peaceful, diplon-tatic
;	and promoting international terror-	
111)!@NS
page A8
see 11
chzjoncl@
Lil,@a Tlwwi@h diplonrkti,	the st'spects In
avenif@,-t6 Hrint	.1@111.	
,
,
Soviet
0
un4
0
gams
suppor"
By Gerald Nadler
THE VVISHINGTON TIMES
MOSCOW - Soviet President Mi
khail Gorbachev reached agreez@'@u
ment with the leaders of se-
publics yesterday to pre.
union government in a',`hew..qn@ed
crated state.
The accord reached afr6e-all-d
qy
talks at Mr. Gorbachev's da.ctf@ ouv@
side Moscow marked the most'@i@-
nificant progress since iVWfailcd@,@'
August coup at maintainiiii-a cen-
t., government, which is prefe M-d.
by international financial orgiffiiZi
tions and foreign states in dealing
with Moscow.
But five republics - the Ukraine,
Moldavia, Georgia, Armeniaand U@i-.'
bekistan - did not attend the State
Council meeting at Novo-Ogarevo
with Mr. Gorbachev; the agreemetil
is also only the first step in a lot__,
process. 1 ';1'
The political union pact must- be
finalized, then approved by the par-
liaments of the republics and sent
back to the State Council. '. .,
Foreign governments are con-
cerned that the lack of a central ggv-.
ernment structure could lead to a@
dangerous dispersal of Soviet nu-
clear weapons among the republics
and that there would be no central
authority to pay the foreign debt of
$70 billion.
Mr. Gorbachev, who has threat
ened twice in the last three months
to resign if a union treaty is not
signed, held his hands together in
front of him in a pose of relief and
thankfulness at the televised news
conference where the pro
ward a pact with the
announced. _J
"The Inewl Union Of Soverelp
States will be a confederate&dem
cratic government:' Mr. Gorbacl@
said. lie added that a military unioq
agreementwas One of the nexf,4ie@.s
toward reforging the Soviet state.
Boris Yelisin and Nu.rsul ,tan,
Nazarbavev. presidents Of the tWo-
ia and. Ka-1.
largest republics, Russ' --
zakhstan, then stepped forward to
announce their approval of the ac-
cord as a smile engulfed Mr. Go
r.
chev's face.
sav whaC W`111.be 'e'
"It is hard to
see SOVIETS. pag,,A8'.,:1@"__
The evidence: Attorney General-designate William Barr displays a photo of a fragment of the radio-cassette player where the Pan Am bomb was hidden.
'NOVEMBER 15, iggi
Ac 0004f
LIBYAN N	WHO DID IT?
From page A]	Initially, the Pan Am bombing investi ation centered on the Syria-backed
terrorist group Popular Front for the Neration of Palestine-General
last month, described the in-
"	Command. Yesterday's indictment against two Libyan intelligence officers
'b
h "
ffi
i
l
id th
t
d
h
as
one of the most	s sa
ere was no
other co-conspirators:
u
o
c
a
sai
t
ey acted wit
exhaustive and complex" in history	evidence to link the bombing to Iran Syria or the PFLP-GC.
"We charge that two Libyan of-	Various officials and press reports p@inted to this list of characters as
ficials, acting as operatives of the	possible suspects during the probe.
Libyan intelligence service along	
Ahmed Adh Le d .Ju
th_
-A..... a e!p,@_q
t
with other co-conspirators, planted	6110F
and detonated the bomb that de-	tbif6tist0ell Ofthe, rrLr- 1. 'in

" he said.
stroyed Pan Am Flight 103	
Wfieved:to hao A
0tarried 6 0
'
,
"I have just telephoned some of	arov.n
L
i

the families of those murdered i
n	upt,
h
traced to gr

Pan Am Flight 103 to inform th in
e	
0 Mohammed Abu Talb: Identified by a Swedish

'a vors
nd the organizations of survi	court as a suspect in bombing and a member of the

that this indictment has been re-	Palestine Popular Struggle Front. Suspected of

" he said
turned
"Their loss has been	purchasing some of the clothing found in the suitcase
.
,
ever-present in our minds."	on Pam Am Flight 103 in which the bomb was hiden.
e
re-
The 193-count indictment	Wa
'
Jibril
,
Aurned by a federal grand
-	%r 1"0es. 6d
J
1

Washington, alleges that the two Lib-	t@ n 77@!

ina
,oa,I t
1: nt
av,
.yan intelligence officials con-	
P
LP
b
d k
H
t
D
lk
l
GC
structed a bomb of plastic explosive	-
mem
er an
a
ez
omon
:
F
a
0
ey
with 13
aide to Jibril
was arrested in West German
,,and a sophisticated timing device	,
y
other suspected terrorists two months before the Pan
put it into a portable radio-	Am incident. U.S. intelligence officials identified him
cassette player in a suitcase.	as being involved in bombing attempts.
On Dec. 20,1988, according to the	
kill
R A

.indictment, they flow from Libya to	.

at a ff n oc I
0 dh
-Malta, where one of them had	:1aotolligence: @'ie 0@ a
TV h
a
worked for Libyan Arab Airlines and	.
ecuri ianizatton h
ee. tj 0
w
n
had access to baggage tags of an-	._
_
Wm. Rafsanjani
other airline, Air Malta.	E Moussa Koussa: Vice minister of Libyan foreign affairs. Identified by
"By using stolen Air Malta bag-	U.S. intelligence officials as a suspect in prior bombing attempts.
gage tags, the defendants and their	........

illi
Mohammed N '01
qoffibia
11
SU pecte
a
onti
co-conspirators were able to route	.
,
_.A.
.
g
y
.b US( ,ma 0 eht: SO
u
oc8u$0 eqUipmient he t bw quipme
the bomb-rigged suitcase as unac-	.
M -bombih
'the Pah

companied luggage;'Mr. Barr said.	.
,
nd lon
time
n
ent
n Saber: Lib
i
lli
s
r Om
t
E M
"The suitcase was put aboard an Air	n
e
a
an
ra
ce ag
ou
yan
ge
g
and also released.
Arrested with Mr
Naydi
colleague of Mohammed Naydi
Malta, flight that went to Frankfurt,	.
.
,
,
"

Germany"	
a
- I h
n
1
b o
tl

At Frankfurt, the indictment said	,
ut thea 0
11J, a
.,Q. 545,410. H@
n
t h
s Co wt
hie flK r
wa
a
m
the suitcase was transferred to	.
'
.,
%
I theArani utionat
ton.rrt
"M N
pq ed
0 $
connecting Pan Am flight - 103-
A	.

,
1
,
bound for Heathrow Airport in	L
London. At Heathrow, it was placed	The Washington Times
',aboard Pan Am 103 and exploded	
about 38 minutes after the aircraft	
had left for New York City on Dec.	
21, 1988.	
The two Libyans are charged with	
J@
conspiracy to murder those on board	
the plane and placing a bomb on the	
jet. The United States has no extradi-	
tion treaty - or diplomatic relations	
with Libya to bring them to. this	
04
country for trial. Justice Depart-	
merit authorities said they hoped to	
get the men back to the United States	
but did not elaborate.	A

Mr. Barr said U.S. and Scottish	,
authorities, after an "exhaustive	
deter-
analysis of tons of debris,	
mined that the bomb had been in the	
P
suitcase in a large, aluminum bag-	Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi Lamen Khalifa Fhimah
gage container in the aircraft's for-	
ward cargo hold, He said the bomb		
consisted of 10 to 14 ounces of plas-		
tic explosive.		
-'
"

"The methodical crime scene in		Chrono ht@
a

vestigation yielded a tiny, small frag-		4c 2
ment -- smaller than a fingernail -		Nov. 14
1991 - Two Libyan intelligence officials indicted for planting
that had been driven by the blast into		,
bomb that destroyed Flight 103.
the large cargo container," he said.		
"o -aiu
4c
ti
t
e

"Forensic experts determined that		
r
epa men s. amon .
.
s
o
inginquiN u
hf:10
h
tt
vid
A
Fl
b
3
this was part of the circuit board of		.
encet a
errorN .,,.w,. an
.M.
e
jo
tf- I aitd6 16 d'U rugiriv
were unwi ing y ygn.un
ercoyer.
e@
the 'Ibshiba radio"		.
.
N
1
9

He said a fragment of green cir-		ov.
0 - President Bush signs a bill tightening airport security.
6, 19
7
cuit board, also smaller than a fi
n		sh government. repoftInte, @as orv@goq
4
'N@- ". .

-jernail, was found in a piece of shirt		i@Wt firn safers.Famitiescif" . e Act
are
sa),
:

that had been in the suitcase contain		
b6c se ft
fa _nside(A r -ort q, r
0010 co
ty
P
ing the bomb.		June 11, 1990 - Justice Department reports "significant progress" in the
"Scientists determined that it was		investigation but says evidence to bring charges was still "not in hand."

part of the bomb's timing device and		
6 J 4, '0 i6vo
1" ---A 4(@ornmlsSj
1a
prest(en
TV
f

traced it to its manufacturer, a Swiss		.. -,
,
'.
,
,
d th U It d $tates sh6uld t@kq rni Wary. ac ion, again:
-lecoMmer), S. 0. J0 e.
company that had sold it to a high		harborto
pall. ins that.
level Libyan intelligence official;,		1990 - Pan Am reaches an out-of-court settlement with 250
May 10
Mr. Barr said.		milies whose relatives were killed or injured in the disaster.
cottish
Mr. Megrahi, 39, was describedby		
bdd@

I
6s t
A
& H f
ic
r
first
0

U.S. authorities as a senior officer of		.
annou
nc
e
.
i, s c. je. aW
.
e
pu
0.,
't
"
U l
G
ni
4
Ose
0
v
the Libyan intelligence agency,		4
:
n
,
"u
r
40
nal,p@
known as the Jamahirya Security
'
"		Nov. 17, 1989 - A presidential commission opens in
Organiz@ Fiort. th
said he has held
ey		,.,Wash,i.ngton.

various positions with Libyan Arab		4, X91." CIA. bfroctor.Wjhi@ 'W. b haUnfted,!,1 is.
ft S, gy dtf

Airlines and served as director of		it
op t 0 It eb6 0. rs.:and 6ringth.6ir"
es @ p -s iZe h g§!@!Ot
the Center for Strategic Studies in		W Oct. 30, 1989 - West German officials say investigators found a trail
:
;
THpoli at the time of the bombing.		;.
.
to Malta as the likely source of the bomb and say a Libyan man may
Mr. Fhimah, 35, also was de_		have played a role.

scribed as a covert agent of the Lib-		IAW 8 -Is 'fbeli S"It fi, 61i

0
ed
up tog
yan intelligence agency and worked		:
W 15'
in
M
as station officer with Libyan Arab		, .
1989 - Pr
nt Bush announces formation of a
4
sid
Aug
Airlines in Malta,		.
e
e
,
seven-member commission to investi
ate air terrorism
with particular
The indictment represents the		,
g
ffemphasis on the Pan Am bombing.
first charges to be f iled in the nearly		", . @ 1 1. @ 11, @,@ .__'_ . .. .11
I . ,_.; U S.
3-year-old case. Of those who died in		
Qa.pr
the terrorist explosion, 189 were		
Americans. The victims were from		Aprll 3, 1989 - The United States announces new measures to combat
21 countries and included eight fa
in		sky terrorism.
ilies of four. Sixteen infants sittin
9		
e
on the laps of their parents also were		th t Ul
killed.		O.AUS PTI rappns'T I
-fi
Thi
t
f th
i
ti		
r
ve o
e v
c
ms were
y		
Syracuse University students re-		Jan. 10, 1989 - British investigators say the bomb was planted in the
turning to the United States after a		a rcra t s rward baggage hold.
pre-Christmas trip to Europe.		@M, N

d"M
d
The investigation initially cen-		@,@s @00' h'but p rar
'
i
':

-tered on allegations that the Syria-		@I
Vidt'# f I
e
*009t A: $.I,
R P
backed Popular Front for the Liber-		
Dec. 28
1988 - Britain's Air Accidents Investigations Branch says the
ation of Palestine-General Com-		,
jet was blown up by a powerful bomb made of plastic explosives. Lawyers
mand (PFLP-GC), led by suspected	,,	.,..
representing families of the victims say they will sue the'U.S. government
terrorist Ahmed Jibril, had been re-		and Pan Am.
sponsible for the Pan Am bombing.		
CIA intelligence officials orig-		U.", M
VYA r
inally said the organization con-		
spired with Iranian officials to at-		
1988 - British investi
ators sa
sabota
e was the most likel
Dec 22

tack a U.S. airliner in retaliation for		y
g
y
g
,
caus; of the crash
U
officials say a threat to blow up a Pan Am flight to
S
the 1988 accidental downing of an		.
.
.
New York originating in Frankfurt, Germany, as Flight 103 had, was made to:
Iranian jetliner by a US. warship,		U.S. embassies in Europe and major airlines earlier in the month.
the USS Vincennes, in the Persian		
S rc

Gulf.		7

n
n
But Assistant Attorney General		
Robert. Mueller 111, who heads the		
Justice Department's criminal divi-	Th Washington Times
sion, said yesterday there was no evi-	
dence to link the Pan Am bombing to	deaths in more than 100 terrorist ation Front, which has a long history
Iran, Syria or the PFLP-GC.	attacks. of terrorist attacks, remain based in
Yesterday's State Department re-	0 Col. Gadhafi last year gave more Libya, receiving broad government
port on Libya's terrorism role said:	than $1 million to the PFLP-GC, a support,
*Libya provides training facili-	terrorst group responsible for the *Libya's terrorist support and
ties and several million dollars a	traced to the
twWSg 1
4
i""9RMA
"
@U
year, to tP43pow6di ft0leleasp	2
in W-
fig# -
1
isMar
07
y the Philippines,
which has been connected to 280	0 Elements of the Palestine Liber- Costa Rica, Peru and Chile.
Approved For Release 2003/04/18: CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1001430002-1