Two Carriers Will Stay in Mediterranean

WASHINGTON--The Navy has taken steps to assure that President Reagan can call on a two-carrier battle group if he decides to order a military strike against Libya, Pentagon and administration sources said yesterday.

The preparations include cancellation of the departure by one carrier from the Mediterranean for home and scuttling plans for a liberty call by a second carrier, the sources said.

Coral Sea

The U.S. Sixth Fleet now has the carrier America under way in the northern Mediterranean off the coast of Italy. The carrier Coral Sea, which had been expecting to sail for home shortly, was in port yesterday in Malaga, Spain, but sources said it might get under way as early as today.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed the Navy had yet to receive any orders to re-form a naval battle group in the central Mediterranean off Libya's coast. But they acknowledged the latest preparations were the clearest indication yet that plans were being studied for a military strike.

"It has become clear over the past 24 hours that we're going to keep our options open for the moment by keeping two carriers over there," said one source.

The disclosure of the Navy actions came as President Reagan was telling newspaper editors the United States is "not going to just sit here and hold still" in the wake of renewed terrorist attacks against Americans in Europe.

He said Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy is "definitely a suspect" in the latest fatal bombings aboard a TWA jetliner over Greece and in a West Berlin nightclub.

The president refused to say what he plans to do, other than continue to gather evidence about the incidents and seek the support of European allies.

New Terrorist Attacks

Shortly before the president's appearance, a senior Administration official disclosed that U.S. intelligence agencies had learned that Khadafy was encouraging his embassies to guide new terrorist attacks against the United States and that Reagan Administration officials had agreed there must be retaliation.

Pentagon sources revealed on Tuesday the Coral Sea was preparing to leave port at Malaga, Spain, to conduct some routine operations in the western Mediterranean. After a brief period of operations, the sources said, the Coral Sea was supposed to set sail for the United States, having completed its normal six-month deployment.

The carrier left its home port of Norfolk, Va., on October 2.

Instead of departing Malaga, however, the Coral Sea was unexpectedly ordered to remain in port and at least temporarily to scrap its plans for a return home.

The carrier America, meantime, left the port of Livorno, Italy, as scheduled yesterday. But that ship has been told to remain under way at sea instead of heading toward a second port call in France, the sources said.