Blast At Disco In Panama Hurts 27

PANAMA CITY, Panama - Two men yelling ``Long live Noriega!'' threw a grenade into a discotheque frequented by U.S. soldiers. Twenty-seven people, including 16 U.S. military men, were wounded, witnesses and officials said yesterday.

The attack late Friday was believed to be the first such raid on U.S. servicemen since the United States invaded Panama on Dec. 20 and overthrew the government of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega. One of the Americans was reported seriously injured.

``I heard something come in that broke the glass, hit the table and then I heard the explosion,'' said Eric Quintero, one of the wounded. ``There was a lot of confusion, people screaming . . . people on the floor.''

Witnesses said a grenade landed under a table, then exploded. It left a hole about half a yard in diameter in one of the disco's glass walls.

Lisa McKay, who was outside the discotheque when the 11:30 p.m. attack occurred, said that two men drove up, one got out and threw the bomb, and then they sped away.

The men yelled ` ``There goes Noriega! Long live Noriega!' and threw the grenade,'' she said. Another woman who was going into the disco at the time, gave the same account.

Panama's Judicial Technical Police, in charge of the investigation, gave no details, but an official said, ``It was against the gringos.'' He asked not to be identified.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, said Lt. Cmdr. Peggy Black, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Southern Command.

Lt. Col. Terry Jones said one of the Americans was seriously injured. Thirteen others were being treated at the U.S. military's Gorgas Hospital and two were treated and released, he said.

Three of the 11 wounded Panamanians had serious injuries and were in intensive care, a Social Security Hospital report said. It said six Panamanians were treated and released.

Panamanian investigators and U.S. military police yesterday were looking through debris in the disco for evidence.

The disco, My Place, known to be popular with U.S. servicemen, is just off the busy Via Espana and a block from the international banking center in Panama City.

Yesterday, the Peruvian Embassy here was a target of firebombs thrown by protesters angered because the embassy is giving refuge to two officers who were allied with Noriega.

There were no injuries or serious damage in the incident.

The protest was organized by widows of Panamanian soldiers slain in a failed Oct. 3 attempt to topple Noriega. They are angered that Gonzalo Gonzalez and Heraclides Sucre, who are accused of killing coup leader Maj. Moises Giroldi, have taken refuge in the embassy.

The attack on the disco occurred hours after Noriega's wife, three daughters and grandson left Panama for Havana. As they left Panama City, they were surrounded by hundreds of jeering people who shouted ``Go away, beggars!''

Noriega is awaiting trial on drug charges in Miami.

In Washington, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, taping a Sunday talk show with Cable News Network, said the bombing had not prompted U.S. authorities to put soldiers on alert. The United States has about 13,500 troops in Panama, about the number stationed there before the invasion.

``Panama has been a violent place in the past, and it is still obviously a problem,'' he said. ``You can't safeguard against every possible contingency. If somebody wants to to drive by someplace and toss a grenade, I guess that's a possibility.

``But again, we don't know what happened here - whether this is an isolated act, whether it was part of some organized effort, whether it was a group or an individual. We just don't know enough yet to make those judgments.''