Kadafi Blasts Airport Attacks, Vows Aid in War on Terrorism

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadafi condemned the men who attacked the Rome and Vienna airports as “completely mad” and pledged to help fight terrorism, Western diplomats said today.

According to Western European envoys who attended a rare meeting with Kadafi on Wednesday night, the Libyan leader said he is trying to discourage Palestinians from attacking targets outside of Israel and Israeli-occupied areas.

On the other hand, Kadafi warned that if Libya becomes the target of a U.S. attack, “I’ll become a madman” and might attack Western European ports that harbor U.S. warships or cities near U.S. military bases, one diplomat said.

The diplomat said Kadafi spoke in a calm voice devoid of his usual rhetoric.

All the diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity.

Praised Gunmen Earlier

Kadafi’s comments condemning the airport massacres contrasted with earlier remarks in which he praised the Palestinian gunmen who assaulted the Rome and Vienna airports with grenades and submachine guns Dec. 27.

Nineteen people, including five Americans and four terrorists, died in what the official Libyan news agency JANA initially called a “heroic action.”

The United States and Israel have accused Libya of supporting the Abu Nidal faction of Palestinian terrorists, which they believe carried out the simultaneous airport attacks.

But Kadafi, speaking of the attacks, told the diplomats: “Libya does not approve of actions like this.”

He reiterated his support for the Palestinian struggle for a homeland but denounced the airport terrorists as “completely mad,” the diplomats said.

Trying to ‘Convince’ Guerrillas

He told the diplomats that Libya is trying to “convince” Palestinian guerrillas that they should limit their struggle to “the occupied land” (Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) and not go around killing Jewish people and Americans in Western Europe.

“We support the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian people, but who can control one, two or three people who are desperate and avenge the killing of their people by the Israelis?” an aide quoted Kadafi as saying.

“We do not condone this,” he said.

Kadafi also said that if terrorists from a group such as Italy’s leftist Red Brigades were found in Libya, Libya would be willing to discuss extraditing them.

Reagan denounced Kadafi on Tuesday as a backer of international terrorism and announced a series of economic sanctions against the North African nation. Reagan called on America’s allies to join the sanctions, but only Israel has done so.

On Wednesday, Reagan went further, freezing hundreds of millions of dollars in Libyan government assets in the United States. (Story on Page 16.)

Aide Sees Reagan Holdup

A Kadafi aide, reacting to that move, said today: “This is a holdup true to his character. I am not surprised; Reagan is putting into practice the holdups he learned in movies.”

Kadafi made no mention of what will happen to the assets of U.S. oil companies in Libya, believed to be worth $400 million.

Of the sanctions, Kadafi was quoted as saying: “America does not need Libya, and Libya does not need America. That is why America can afford to make a fuss.”

But Kadafi noted that there are 40,000 Europeans working in Libya and 230 European companies operating in the country and said Libya and Western Europe need each other economically.