Suspect in Fatal Bombing of Disco Held in East Berlin

BONN —  An Arab man suspected in the 1986 West Berlin disco bombing that killed an American soldier and sparked a U.S. air strike on Libya is in custody in East Berlin, West German security sources said Tuesday.

They said the man was being held under a false name and on unrelated charges. There was no immediate confirmation from officials in East Berlin.

A U.S. soldier and a Turkish woman died in the April, 1986, attack on the La Belle discotheque in West Berlin.

Then-President Ronald Reagan ordered air strikes against Libya, saying there was evidence Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadafi was behind the attack.

The Bonn sources were commenting on a report in the latest edition of the news magazine Stern, which said a man with an Arab name is being held under tight security because he is considered a prime witness in the case.

According to the security sources, the man is suspected of taking part in the transport of the explosives used in the disco bombing.

Stern also said East and West German police have been cooperating since May in the hunt for a Palestinian, Yasser Chraidi, who is suspected of belonging to a Libyan assassination squad operating in Berlin.