Australia Cuts Ties With Libya

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia will cut diplomatic relations with Libya and close that nation’s People’s Bureau in Canberra after finding evidence of Libyan destabilizing activities in Australia and the South Pacific, Prime Minister Bob Hawke said today.

Hawke said Libyan diplomats have been given 10 days to leave the country. The prime minister said Australia has evidence that Libya is training people from nearby New Caledonia in guerrilla warfare and “has begun to intrude into our domestic affairs, causing dissension and confrontation among communities.”