Iceland Mobilizes Forces, All 800, to Guard Summit

REYKJAVIK, Iceland —  Iceland today mobilized its 700 to 800 security personnel for the Reagan-Gorbachev meeting and considered docking ocean liners in the harbor to house the flood of journalists.

Prime Minister Steingrimur Hermannsson got emergency powers from his Cabinet to take special measures needed to play host to the meeting Oct. 11-12.

The powers enable Iceland’s government to sequester hotels and to vacate schools for use as media centers.

Hermannsson told reporters that a lack of information from the Americans and Soviets “is slowing us down.”

He said: “It is absolutely vital for us to know when the leaders arrive, whether they agree to the Saga Hotel as the meeting place, and when the different delegations are arriving.”

Citizens’ Aid Sought

The 162-room Saga, Reykjavik’s most luxurious hotel, has told its guests they must leave by Oct. 8. The government has appealed to private citizens to offer rooms for rent.

Hermannsson said he understood arranging the meeting on such short notice was difficult for everyone. But he said he was informed only on Wednesday morning that 10 American officials were arriving the same night and on Wednesday night was informed that 60 Americans and 40 Soviets were flying in today.

Reykjavik, a quiet community of 90,000 inhabitants, faces major logistical problems accommodating the hundreds of officials and thousands of media representatives likely to come to Iceland for the meeting between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

The White House advance party arriving today was to set about the daunting task of equipping a remote and sparsely inhabited land of glaciers, geysers and volcanoes with high-technology communications and anti-terrorist gadgets.

The Cabinet met as the first snow of winter, which fell early today, dusted the city.

Security Mobilized

Hermannsson said every member of Iceland’s security forces--police, civil defense and coast guard--was being mobilized to help protect the two leaders. He said about 700 or 800 security personnel were available.

He also said that U.S. and Soviet bodyguards would be allowed to carry weapons provided they coordinated their activities with the Icelandic security services.

Terrorism is not a major preoccupation here. Iceland has never suffered a terrorist attack.

Hermannsson, 58, who has been prime minister since 1983, has no bodyguard and visitors to his office are not checked for identification or searched. His number is listed in the phone book.

The republic of 240,000 inhabitants has no army and relies for its defense on the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy detachments at Keflavik, outside the capital.