Office of the Historian

140. Memorandum From Secretary of State Muskie to President Carter1

Washington, October 17, 1980

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Libya.]

5. Possible Assassination Attempt of a Libyan Dissident: The Libyan student who first alerted the U.S. Government to the Libyan intimidation campaign earlier this year was shot and seriously wounded in Colorado Tuesday in what looked like an assassination attempt.2 The FBI has indications the gunman was hired by Libyan authorities. While there have been no reported assassination attempts since June, there is growing evidence the intimidation campaign might be starting up again here and in Europe. We met with the FBI and CIA to assess the incident and our response. As a result of the meeting, we plan to:

—mobilize greater surveillance of Libyans likely to have been involved;

—warn potential Libyan targets in this country;

—inform European governments and explore the possibility of a common strategy;

—consider a public information campaign;

—assess the possibility of deporting known militants.

We called in the head of the Libyan People’s Bureau today to warn him of the consequences of an assassination campaign in the United States. (S)

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Libya.]

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 23, Evening Reports (State): 10/80. Secret. Carter initialed the memorandum.↩
  2. Tuesday, October 14. In telegram 277512 to multiple posts, October 18, the Department reported on the attack on Faisal Zagallai, a Ph.D. candidate at Colorado State University: “The assailant was a middle-aged male Caucasian—probably American (exact description will be furnished to overseas police authorities through appropriate channels). While the assailant has not as yet been apprehended there is reason to suspect that he was a hired ‛gun’ in the pay of Libyan authorities.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800496–0830)↩