West Germany Takes Steps to Protect Americans

BONN — The West German government revealed additional security plans Wednesday to protect American servicemen and civilians from possible terrorist attacks on its territory.

The government will issue standard German auto license plates to Americans, instead of the distinctive U.S. armed forces plates, to help the servicemen keep a lower profile when off duty. It is also considering closing certain streets in American residential neighborhoods.

The announcement came as the Cabinet of Chancellor Helmut Kohl confirmed that the Libyan Embassy in Bonn has been ordered to cut its staff by more than half.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Libyan mission was notified that 22 people out of its staff of 41 must leave West Germany within seven days. Further, Libyan officials are now barred from traveling beyond the city limits of the capital.

Officials here also said they will examine the credentials of the estimated 1,200 Libyans studying or working in West Germany and that some of these will probably be ordered to leave.

The government action came in response to a decision by the European Communities to cut back on the activities of Libyan diplomats in Western Europe, many of whom are thought to be secret agents willing to participate in terrorist activities.

Warning From Kadafi

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi has warned that Libyans may attack Western European and American targets in retaliation for last week’s U.S. air attack on Tripoli and Benghazi.

In Madrid, according to news agencies, a spokeswoman for the Spanish Foreign Ministry said an undetermined number of Libyans will be expelled but could not say whether the expulsions will be carried out to comply with the European agreement or on the basis of evidence of involvement with terrorist attacks.

The Libyan Embassy in Madrid is staffed by five diplomats and eight officials without diplomatic status. Last December, Spain expelled three embassy clerks for activities incompatible with their status. Intelligence sources said they were preparing an attack against an exiled opponent of Kadafi.

However, Austrian Chancellor Fred Sinowatz said his government has no plans to expel Libyan diplomats or take other diplomatic sanctions against Libya. Austria is not a member of the 12-nation European Communities.

No Airport Links Seen

Sinowatz, speaking at a news conference after addressing the 21-nation Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg, France, also said he is sure that Libyans were not involved in the terrorist attack at Vienna airport last December in which four people died and 46 were injured.

Sinowatz did not say who his government believes was behind the attack. He said U.S. intelligence allegedly linking Libya to other terrorist acts in Europe “has not been given to us.”

In Bonn, government spokesman Friedhelm Ost said Wednesday that West German security forces have been placed on a status of high alert to prevent terrorists attacks like the bombing of the West Berlin discotheque April 5 that killed two people, one of them a U.S. Army sergeant, and injured more than 200 other people. President Reagan, blaming Kadafi’s regime, cited the bombing as justification for the air raid.

Beefed-up Forces

Police and plainclothes forces have been beefed up, Ost said, particularly in those areas frequented by Americans and in neighborhoods where U.S. service personnel and their dependents live.

There are about 250,000 U.S. servicemen stationed in West Germany, along with another 200,000 dependents. They are scattered throughout the country, in clusters ranging from about 70,000 in the Kaiserslautern area to tiny units of a dozen or so.

In addition to changing the license plates issued to Americans, the Bonn authorities are considering a plan to close off streets in U.S. military housing areas near the main American bases.

Many of the American residential subdivisions have had no particular protection. Schools are on main streets, with playgrounds on side streets open to all vehicular traffic.

Visible Around Schools

American schools in the capital and other cities have been casual about security until recently, but this week, green and white police cars and armed German policemen have become highly visible around the school grounds.

German newspapers interviewing U.S. servicemen’s dependents have reported heightened tension among them because of the Libyan threat, which is seen as potentially more serious than previous attacks on U.S. military installations by the Red Army Faction, the extreme-leftist West German urban terrorist organization.

Some U.S. soldiers have volunteered to guard American playgrounds and churches while off duty, according to the Hamburg newspaper Bild Zeitung.

Pubs Nearly Empty

Recently, many of the pubs and discos frequented by American GIs have been almost empty, particularly those in West Berlin.

In some areas, American servicemen have been instructed to wear civilian clothes when off duty, and some commanders have advised their troops against being in downtown areas in the evenings. U.S. soldiers throughout the country have been instructed not to visit West Berlin unless on official business.

In Karlsruhe, the mayor and local U.S. military commander decided to cancel a German-American fair that had been expected to draw 50,000 people. And in Frankfurt, headquarters of many U.S. firms doing business in West Germany, American banks and other companies are maintaining appointment-only security, with visitors welcomed only after displaying their passports and undergoing a search of hand baggage.

Unfamiliar Postmarks

British armed forces radio also is warning troops in West Germany to check cars and mail for explosives. The 55,000 British servicemen in Germany are also being warned to vary their routes to and from work and to be wary of unexpected mail with unfamiliar postmarks.

British sources said that because some of the attacking U.S. planes used in last week’s raid on Libya were allowed to take off from British bases, Arab terrorists and radical urban guerrilla groups that had mainly attacked U.S. forces in West Germany in the past may now turn on British troops, too.

In Tripoli, Libya, wire services reported, Information Minister Sharifeddin Faituri accused the United States and Israel of planning terrorists attacks in Europe for which Libya would be blamed to justify additional bombing raids.

From ‘Friendly States’

He told reporters that he based his statement on reports from intelligence sources in “friendly states, including European countries.” He gave no further indication of who his sources were, or when or where the alleged planned attacks were to be carried out.

Asked how many attacks were planned, Faituri said, “You may ask Mossad (Israeli intelligence) and American intelligence. They know the number.”

Asked the type of attacks allegedly planned, the information minister replied, “Operations similar to the West Berlin nightclub bombing.”

In The Hague, meanwhile, U.S. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III and FBI Director William H. Webster discussed terrorism and other “issues of mutual interest” with officials of the European Communities, a U.S. Embassy spokesman said. One issue, he added, “is obviously terrorism.” But neither U.S. nor Dutch officials would discuss details of the talks.