Bail Set for Man Linked to Plot to Murder North : Prosecutor Protests Action; Suspected Libyan Intelligence Agent Kept in Jail Pending Appeal

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Over the protests of a federal prosecutor, a U.S. magistrate Friday ruled that a Washington-area man who investigators say plotted to kill Oliver L. North should be freed on bond.

However, the judge ordered the suspect held over the weekend while the government appeals the decision on the grounds that the man is allegedly a Libyan intelligence operative who might try to flee.

U.S. Atty. Henry E. Hudson charged in a bail hearing in federal court in Alexandria that Mousa Hawamda, who operates a Washington travel agency, sought information in April, 1987, on the residence and travel habits of “an American official” in order to kill him.

Helped Plan Tripoli Raid

Government sources said that the unnamed official was North, then a Marine lieutenant colonel, who had helped plan the April, 1986, U.S. air raid on Tripoli that damaged the family quarters of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi. During last summer’s Iran-Contra congressional hearings, North disclosed that he had accepted a $16,000 home security system from a business associate because of death threats.

“It is clear from the evidence in this case that Mr. Hawamda played a role as a Libyan intelligence operative in the United States,” Hudson argued in court. He said that Hawamda organized anti-American activities in Washington and Tripoli, directed the violation of U.S. currency laws and has more than $500,000 in bank accounts in Canada and Switzerland that he could draw on if he flees.

“Most important, we have evidence of his attaining information for assassinating an American official,” Hudson concluded in pressing for Hawamda’s continued detention. “Nothing could be more serious.”

7 Others Arrested

The allegations against Hawamda are part of a larger case in which FBI agents Wednesday arrested him and seven other men involved in pro-Libyan activities in the United States. They were charged with illegally diverting funds intended to support Libyan students in this country. None of the eight were charged with espionage or attempted murder.

The government went to court Friday to argue that the men posed security risks to the United States because of their Libyan connections and that they were likely to flee if released on bail.

U.S. Magistrate Leonie Brinkema rejected Hudson’s plea on Hawamda, saying: “All I have at this point are allegations.”

She set bail at $250,000, ordered Hawamda not to leave the Washington area without permission, seized his U.S. and Jordanian passports and required him to report daily to a probation officer. Brinkema said that he will be allowed to post bond next week if the government does not produce additional information that bolsters its contentions.

Hawamda’s lawyer, F. Andrew Carroll III, called the government’s assertion that the 42-year-old Hawamda is a Libyan spy “ludicrous.” But he refused to discuss specifics of the case.

Another of the defendants, Saleh Mohomed Guima Rajhi, 32, was denied bail, on the basis of FBI allegations that he had provided Libyan intelligence with the names of American officials involved in the 1986 raid.

‘Role of Provocateur’

Rajhi, an unemployed Libyan national living in Herndon, Va., is “very deeply involved in Libyan intelligence activities . . . he almost plays the role of provocateur” by organizing anti-American protests, Hudson alleged.

According to FBI agent Donald J. Bartnik, who testified at the detention hearing, Rajhi provided a computer list of American diplomatic, military and intelligence officials who dealt with the Mediterranean region at the time of the Libya bombing raid. Rajhi sent the list to the Libyan Revolutionary Committee, that country’s intelligence directorate, Bartnik said.

Hudson charged also that Rajhi had sought the home addresses of the American officials, possibly intending them to be targets of retaliation for the raid, in which an infant daughter of Kadafi was reported killed.

The magistrate set bond for four other Libyan suspects also, in amounts from $25,000 to $50,000, but none posted bail Friday. The two other defendants in the case are being held in Denver and Ann Arbor, Mich.