Police Search For TWA Woman Terrorist

Police are hunting for an Arab woman suspected of planting the bomb that exploded on a TWA jetliner over southern Greece, killing four Americans, police sources said yesterday.

Meanwhile, President Reagan condemned the bombing of TWA flight 840 as a "barbaric, wanton act of international terrorism" and said no individual or group has been ruled out as the perpetrator.

Although a group calling itself the Arab Revolutionary Cell claimed responsibility for planting the bomb that exploded aboard the plane over Greece, White House spokesman Larry Speakes said that "no group, organization or individual" has been ruled out as the perpetrator.

Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy has denied involvement in the attack. Although the White House indicated from preliminary investigation that Libya did not appear to be involved, Speakes said the North African country has not definitely been ruled out.

The Greek sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a woman called May Elias Mansur, a known terrorist, flew on the TWA Boeing 727 from Cairo to Athens Wednesday morning. The plane went on to Rome, and the bomb exploded during its return flight from Rome to Athens Wednesday afternoon.

"We have a launched a search around Athens and other cities and also put out a signal to trace this person through Interpol," one police source said. Earlier yesterday in Rome, Italian Interior Minister Oscar Luigi Scalfaro said, "It is certain that a suspect person, who is on file as a terrorist, got on in Cairo and got off in Athens, occupying in the airplane the exact seat where the explosion occurred."

The Italian news agency ANSA last night quoted unidentified Italian investigators in contact with Greek authorities as confirming that the suspect was believed to have boarded with a Lebanese passport in the name of May Mansur.

ANSA said she may have boarded a Middle East Airlines flight to Beirut, Lebanon, shortly after arriving in Athens.

The blast tore a 9-by-3-foot hole in the right cabin wall in front of the wing while the plane was about 15,000 miles over the ground. A Colombian-American man and three Greek-Americans--a woman, her daughter and 9-month-old grand-daughter--were sucked out.

The plane landed safely in Athens about 25 minutes later.

The plane carried a total of 122 people. In addition to the 112 passengers, there were seven crew members and three nonworking TWA employees.

TWA experts, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and FBI officials, and investigators from Greece and Italy examined the plane yesterday. U.S. officials reportedly questioned the crew for eight hours.

Palestinians who know the dark world of Arab terrorism say the TWA aircraft bombing is the latest work of Abu Nidal, the elusive mastermind whose followers have spread blood across three continents.