U.S. Tells Libya That Navy Jets Will Fly Off Its Coast

WASHINGTON —  The United States, in what appears to be a thinly veiled warning to Libya, has notified civilian air traffic officials in Libya that fighter planes from Navy aircraft carriers will be conducting flight operations off the Libyan coast during the next week, sources said today.

The sources, all of whom agreed to discuss the matter only if not identified, confirmed the U.S. 6th Fleet had used international notification procedures on Wednesday to inform the air traffic control facility at Tripoli of “carrier flight operations” within its area of control.

The notice specifies that “carrier flight operations” will be conducted between Jan. 24 and Jan. 31. Because of the time difference between the United States and the Mediterranean, the operations could begin today.

The air traffic control center in the Libyan capital is responsible for tracking civilian airline traffic through a broad slice of the Mediterranean off its coast. The area extends several hundred miles off the Libyan coast, encompassing part of the Mediterranean as well as the Gulf of Sidra.

Libya claims the Gulf of Sidra as its own territorial waters, a contention dismissed by the United States, which recognizes a territorial limit of only 12 miles. The sources declined today to say whether Navy planes or ships might actually move into the Gulf of Sidra.

One source acknowledged today the exercise was “certainly not something the 6th Fleet thought up all by themselves . . . but I don’t know what the brass is planning.

“You could look at it as thumbing our nose at (Libyan leader Col. Moammar) Kadafi and telling him that we consider this international airspace and if he wants to make something of it, come on out and try.”