The Gaddafi Issue Grows

An assassination try in Paris--and a counterplot

The day began normally enough. At about 8:50, Christian Chapman, 60, left his apartment in the fashionable Seventh Arrondissement in Paris and turned toward his metallic-blue 1978 Plymouth, where his chauffeur was waiting, engine idling, to drive him to his post as the charge d'affaires in the U.S. embassy on the Place de la Concorde. Almost immediately, Chapman became aware of a bearded, athletic-looking young man in a black leather jacket who was approaching down the sidewalk. But Chapman sensed no danger until the man thrust his hand into his jacket and started after him. Chapman dodged around his car and ducked for cover as seven shots rang out. Two 7.65-cal. bullets from the gunman's semiautomatic Beretta pistol slammed into the right rear fender of the car, and another hit the right rear side, but Chapman and his driver escaped unhurt.

The veteran diplomat, who holds the second-ranking post in the U.S. embassy, carefully refrained from speculating about who was responsible for the attack, but he did say that his attacker seemed to be a "Middle Eastern type." Later that day Secretary of State Alexander Haig strongly suggested that the man behind the attack was Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan strongman and exporter of terrorism. Said Haig: "We do have repeated reports coming to us from reliable sources that Mr. Gaddafi has been funding, sponsoring, training, harboring terrorist groups who conduct activities against the lives of American diplomats." Haig had "no other information" directly linking the attempt on Chapman's life to Gaddafi, but added: "I think it underlines once again the urgency of dealing with this problem [Gaddafi] in an effective, prudent, but unequivocal way."

The Libyan government promptly dismissed Haig's charges as "insolent in the extreme." But French government sources said that Chapman had recently received a number of threats, some of which had been traced to Libya. In Rome, a U.S. embassy official said there was some evidence that Gaddafi was planning to go after American personnel. Indeed, U.S. security agents learned last September of a Gaddafi plot to kill Maxwell Rabb, the U.S. Ambassador to Italy. Rabb was given special protection. One reason he was suddenly summoned home to Washington last month was to preserve his safety. In early October, a group of between five and ten Libyans was rounded up in Rome and sent back to Tripoli. Since then, unconfirmed reports have circulated in Paris that Gaddafi was planning assaults on other selected U.S. embassies and personnel in Europe in retaliation for the U.S. downing two Libyan fighters in the Gulf of Sidra last summer.

While Gaddafi was purportedly planning assassinations, others were planning to kill him. According to TIME sources in

Washington, a high-ranking French official brought an assassination plan to the Reagan Administration last February. The official was present at a White House meeting chaired by Richard Allen, the National Security Adviser, and attended by, among others, the State Department's Nicholas Veliotes, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, and Chester Crocker, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. According to TIME's sources, the French official proposed that the killing be done by a group of Libyan exiles, trained and controlled by the French. The U.S. would not be directly involved. The official did, however, ask for a general expression of Administration support for the venture and assistance in the aftermath of the coup. Specifically, he wanted the U.S. to give quick diplomatic recognition to Gaddafi's successor. He also sought assurances that the U.S. would be prepared to interdict Libyan harbors and airfields in the event of a move by Moscow on Libya to protect the vast supply of Soviet weapons in the country.

The scheme, the official explained, would have to await the anticipated re-election of French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, in May, but he suggested that the planning begin. The meeting broke up with no decision being made. Still, U.S. officials agreed to keep the talks going. The venture came to an abrupt halt when Giscard was unexpectedly defeated at the polls by Socialist Francois Mitterrand.

Officials of the Mitterrand government insisted last week that they had never heard of any proposal to kill Gaddafi. French sources acknowledge that there were discussions on the intelligence agency level, but say that the plan was never adopted. The French official has disavowed any role in such a plot.

Both Veliotes and Crocker deny that the official made any formal proposal of covert action during their meeting with him, although they admit the discussion did involve Libya. Edwin Meese, counsellor to the President, would neither confirm nor deny there was a plan. Said he: "It would be totally inappropriate for me to comment." Declared State Department Spokesman Dean Fischer: "There was no discussion of a covert plot to overthrow Gaddafi, and the French official made no request for logistical or diplomatic assistance from the U.S."

Reagan Administration officials, however, have on numerous occasions said, as Haig did last week, that "dealing with" Gaddafi is an urgent priority. They have made it clear in the past that they would not be outraged at the prospect of another country's forcibly removing the Libyan dictator.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.