Word: gaddafi
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...Gaddafi survives an attack...
...over the high stone-and-concrete wall that encircles it. Red-bereted guards are on duty at the gates, remote-control TV cameras scan the street outside, and the occasional gun of a Soviet tank protrudes through slits in the wall. But Libyans know that their leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, uses the barracks as a residence, though for security reasons he often sleeps elsewhere. Thus when gunfire was heard in the vicinity of Bab al Azaziyeh, many Libyans thought they knew instantly what this meant: an attempt on Gaddafi's life...
...nature of that four-hour battle remained unclear last week, as conflicting versions emerged from anti-Gaddafi exiles, the Libyan regime and other sources in Tripoli. What was certain was that Gaddafi was alive and well, and in the capital. Even so, the incident was the most audacious challenge to Gaddafi's control in the 15 years since he overthrew the aging King Idris. The shooting lasted from early morning until midday, ending in the death of seven attackers. Three others were arrested and at least another three escaped. Within 48 hours, Libyan authorities had used the incident...
...Gaddafi, who rarely acknowledges opposition at home, blamed the attempt on the Muslim Brotherhood, a fanatical Islamic organization that is active in many Middle East countries. He admitted that the assailants could have "planned an attempt against me." The plotters had been armed and trained, Gaddafi claimed, by his enemies: the U.S., Britain and Sudan. He described the British, who broke diplomatic relations with his government last month after a gunman in the Libyan embassy in London shot and killed a policewoman during an anti-Gaddafi demonstration, as "barbarous, troublemaking exporters of terrorism." As for President Reagan...
Nonetheless, Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi, who had insisted from the beginning that the shots were fired from outside the embassy, accused the British of falsifying the evidence. Not surprisingly, Libya announced that pistols and ammunition had been discovered in the British embassy in Tripoli, a charge Britain denied. Gaddafi repeated his previous threat to resume Libyan aid to Irish Republican Army terrorists as a means of punishing Britain for expelling his diplomats, but promised that there would be "no danger at all" to the Britons living in Libya...