
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 22, 1990                   TAG: 9003222680
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LONDON                                 LENGTH: Medium

CZECHS QUIT SELLING EXPLOSIVES TO LIBYA

Czechoslovakia's former Communist rulers sold tons of Semtex plastic explosives to Libya but its new non-Communist government has stopped all such exports, President Vaclav Havel said today.

Havel, in Britain on an official visit, made his comments at a news conference at the Czechoslovak Embassy.

"The past regime exported 1,000 tons to Libya," he said. "If you consider that it takes 200 grams (7 ounces) to blow up an aircraft, this means world terrorism has enough Semtex to last for 150 years."

Semtex was used in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988, killing all 259 on board and 11 people on the ground.

"We ceased exporting this explosive some time ago," Havel said, speaking through a translator. He did not give a date or any other details.

The former dissident playwright said Tuesday that his country's considerable arms industry would no longer sell weapons to totalitarian regimes, but would continue to sell arms to democracies.

Czechoslovakia has long been a major arms manufacturer. It produces hand grenades, automatic rifles, tanks and armored personnel carriers, in addition to explosives.

Published reports say the export of such weapons and components accounted for between one-quarter and one-half of Czechoslovakia's foreign-exchange earnings. The nation, strapped for hard currency, may find it difficult to stop the trade.

Czechoslovakia, under the hard-line Communist regime of Milos Jakes and Gustav Husak, found a market among nations too poor to afford expensive Western weapons or those denied access for political reasons.

Havel stopped short of saying that Czechoslovakia would no longer manufacture Semtex, but defended its production for peaceful use.

"This is an industrial explosive necessary for various industrial uses. It is not an explosive made especially for terrorists," he said.

But, "now we want to mark Semtex so it will be detectable," he added.

Semtex is odorless and can be molded into any shape, making it almost undetectable by conventional anti-terrorist devices.

by CNB