U.S. wants military coup against Gadaffi

Press, 19 April 1986, Page 10

U.S. wants military coup against Gadaffi

NZPA-Reuter Washington One American goal in attacking Libya was to encourage Colonel Gadaffi’s opponents in the armed forces, said the Secretary of State, Mr George Shultz.

It was the first time an Administration official had publicly gone beyond the explanation that the aim of Tuesday’s air strikes was to teach Colonel Gadaffi that alleged acts of terrorism could not be committed without cost. Mr Shultz said that Colonel Gadaffi was not a direct target, although his adopted baby daughter was reported to have been killed and two sons injured in the raid on a

Tripoli military compound, where Colonel Gadaffi lives. In an apparent reference to an American ban on assassinating foreign leaders, Mr Shultz said, “We have a general stance that opposes efforts of that kind.”

He said it was recognised that there was “considerable dissidence in the armed forces of Libya to Gadaffi and what he is doing,” and he linked that with what he said was an American effort to send two messages to the Libyan military.

He said the first was to underscore for military dissidents that terrorist activities would cost the military valuable equip-

ment. The second was that the guards around Colonel Gadaffi were not invulnerable. “So they were a target. So that was part of the inception of how the targets were selected,” he said. If a coup toppled Colonel Gadaffi, “that’s all to the good ... We know there are lots of people in Libya who think that Libya would be better off if Gadaffi weren’t there.”

He believed that leaders who might replace Colonel Gadaffi would concentrate more on such problems for Libya as the fall in oil prices.