Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 18, 1990 TAG: 9003182308
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The Associated Press and The Washington Post
DATELINE: ROME LENGTH: Medium
The official Libyan news agency JANA said a source at the country's Foreign Ministry declared the plant "was subjected to a terrorist sabotage operation which expressed organized state terrorism by hostile intelligence services, causing a huge fire."
The blaze broke out Wednesday at the plant in Rabta, about 60 miles southwest of Tripoli. Libya says the plant produces medicines, but the United States and West Germany have charged it produces poison gas.
Following the blaze, Libya accused West Germany of involvement. The JANA reports Saturday, however, appeared to shift the blame to the United States.
Both countries as well as Israel have denied involvement in the fire.
President Bush said in an interview broadcast Saturday that U.S. intelligence is "uncertain" whether the fire was an accident or sabotage.
"I am absolutely convinced that the plant was manufacturing bad chemicals, chemicals that would be used for killing people, chemicals that would be used for chemical warfare," he told National Public Radio. "And therefore I don't lament what happened, but I can't tell you I know the cause of it."
Bush was questioned about the possibility that a U.S. ally had heeded the recent appeal from the White House to the world community to take "vigorous action" against the facility.
"We're not sure of that," he said. "The best intelligence that I've had - I think it's the best in the world - is uncertain as to whether this was an accident or some incident of sabotage. I have stated, without fear of contradiction, that the United States was not involved in any sabotage activity.
"But I think it would be fruitless to speculate as to whether it was an accident - there's some highly inflammable chemicals in there - or whether somebody sabotaged it. I've heard what Mr. [Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi has said, and he apparently is suggesting sabotage. But I don't think we know enough about it yet."
JANA, monitored in Rome, said one of the aims of the "cowardly act" was to refute Libyan assertions that the Rabta plant produces medicines.
"However, this act, on the contrary, refuted the claims of America, West Germany and the Zionists," JANA said.
It said the Foreign Ministry source, whom it did not identify, "recalled the statements by the official spokesman of the American administration in which he did not rule out sabotage against the said factory."
White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater this month called for the Rabta plant to be shut down and said Washington did not rule out a military strike at the factory.
The Libyan source quoted by JANA said the Foreign Ministry "warns world public opinion of the dangers of repetition of such hostile acts by the American administration against the Libyan Arab people."
The official also was quoted as saying that "colonial countries, headed by the United States of America and the Zionist enemy, were exerting their utmost efforts to prevent Arab countries from peaceful development," including the production of medicines.
A previously unknown organization, purportedly representing Libyan army dissidents, claimed responsibility for setting Wednesday's blaze in a telephone call to the Cairo bureau of the West German news agency ARD.
by CNB