,no7RQ For Release '2JO0JO8/O%: CIA-RrIDQ6 ROO 5000T0001-9 F TW Bonn L111K8 2 irms- rim I 110 Unauthorized Eq%r"ortslo' Libya W. Crennany Sets Aew.Control Measures By Robert J McCartney Washington Post Foreign service BONN, Jan. 11-The West GerT man, government today acknowl- edged for the first time that inves- tigators have uncovered ' "indica- tionelhat two West German firms may have ma -do- unauthorized ex- ports to Libya. The statement appeared to rep- resent a reversal by the Bonn gov- ernment, which had insisted for more than a week that it had seen no indications or evidence'to sup- port U.S. administration allegations that five West German companies helped Libya build a chemical weap- ons factory. Customs investigators and other export-monitoring authorities have obtained information indicating that two of the five companies impli- cated by Washington may have been involved with a Belgian trans- port company in making unautho- rized exports to Libya, a govern- ment spokesman said. Yesterday the government an- nounced a major package of control measures for new arms shipments abroad that commentators here said was a clear admission that the Bonn government had been lax in enforc- ing its own ban on military exports to regions of tension. (In Washington, a State Depart- ment spokesman "warmly wel- comed" Bonn's move, adding that the administration would have to study the new restrictions careful- ly.] The two West German compa- nies implicated are IBI Engineemg o1_EEV1jfart, which has been linked to an Iraqi businessman identified as Ihsan Barbouti, and Imhausen- Chemie Gmba oJ_LaU,---sa-i-&-flh`e Ero-nn -government spokesman in a telephone interview tonight. The Belgian firm is Cross Link of Ant- werp, the spokesman added. hauseni previously has denied tham it delivered chemical arms equipment to Libya, while IBI En__ gineering has not publicly re~-. sponded to the allegations. Cross Link refused comment.when con- tacted today, Reuter news agency reported; West German officials said that customs investigators a week agq confiscated 12 containers of docu- ments belonging to IBI Engineering as part of an inquiry into the U.S. allegations. West German and Bel- gian authorities were cooperating 4- the inquiry, the Bonn officials said.- ' It was too early to say whether investigators have obtained "evi- dence" of illegal exports to Libyaj the government spokesman. said tonight. Earlier in the day, Reuters quoted Bonn government sources as saying that West German authors ities had evidence that West Ger- man firms helped Libya build what the United States says is a chemical weapons plant. "We are in possession of eviden ,ce which shows that the American al- legations are not groundless,~' Reuters quoted a source. as saying' "Imhausen will not be able to extri- cate itself from the matter now," the agency quoted a government source as saying. But the government spokesman said that the sources quoted by Reuter went "too far," because "we have no formal report with evi- dence from the responsible author- ities." Chancellor Helmut Kohl's gov- ernment reacted with a mixture of deep embarrassment. and irritation, after'U.S. officials leaked the name of the Imhausen firm to U.S. media' late last month. U.S. officials main- tain that Imhausen, a chemicals and pharmaceuticals company belonging to a group with 350 employees, See BONN, A32, Col. 4 Approved For Release 2000/08/08 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO0500070001-9 V T 0 < (D -n 0 M 0 00 0 00 V V I 0 (D CL _n BONN, From A29 played a central role in design and construction of the plant at Rabta, Libya, the U.S. officials said.. The. weekly magazine Stem, in a .report released today ahead of pub- lication, named six West German firms, plus one in East Germany and another in Austria, which.it said had worked with Libya. ZDF said a total of 30 companies from West Germany, East Germany, Denmark and other countries were involvedL Stem said it had obtained evi- dence showing Imhausen provided Libya with "everything. that was needed to build a chemicals facto- ry. The ZDF television network said Imhausen, through subsidiaries, had been responsible, for most of -the technical interior equipment for the Rabta &~Mt. ZDFsaid its reporters saw-Metters and receipts that ap- pear to be proof" of ImhauseWs. iole. The network said it interviewed a West German businessman' who stated that he had shipped 200 win- dows to Rabta as part of a deal with IBL The executive, Josef Sartorius, said Barbouti visited his firm in 1987 to discuss the deal. Barbouti owns IBI Engineering of Frankfurt, a customs spokesman said.. A Zurich office of IBI also has been' implicated by- Washington as having worked in the Libyan project. - A spokesmen for the government and the Finance Ministry said that an inquiry by its Customs Criminal Institute of IBI Engineering and Imhausen has not yet found suffi- cient grounds to open a state P*_ ecutor's investigation. The announcement today of week's customs raid on IBI neering contradicted statements~Ky Bonn officials. last week that all ut- quiries were stalled because of lat. of sufficient data from Washingt44 The documents of4he firm w' business has been:~ stumspended several months, were locited aft investigators received an anonB mous tip, Bonn officials added. - J`b One official indicafted,today th&.T the government was too hasty ear%, 4- last week in 'saying stronglk thaM evidence was la&hii to back up the* Americans' claims., Asked:.whethe% Bonn now had such evidence, th.C official said, q will not rule i fA because I always was afraid L; would.be like that.' -4 ZD 0 M -,n 4.. X.."A , At. tigitofs that,Salzgitter IndwriAA GmbH, or SIG, a subsidiary of uployeeReportedly state-controlled steel group, Sol blueprints for the Rabta facility Imhausen. M Cerman Firm to Libya Plant In talks between executives SIG and Imhausen, "it. was an opla fied by the U.S. administration as- secret that the ominous Pharna By Robert J. McCartney Washington NrA Foreign Servic,- BONN, Jan. 24-The West Ger- man weekly magazine Stern re- ported today that a West German chemicals company manager has told criminal investigators that a subsidiary of a state-controlled company sold blueprints for'a fac- tory knowing that it was to be based in Libya and was to produce highly toxic substances. ,The United States has charged that West German companies helped Libya build a poison gas fac- tory- Stern said the witness was a manager of Imhausen-Chemie GmbH of Lahr, a company identi- h.aving played a central role in de- sign,and construction of the plant at Rabta, Libya. The company has de- nied the allegations. The magazine said the Inihausen witness has "completely opened up" with investigators. - Hubertus Voegele, spokesman for the prosecutor, confirmed by telephone that an Imhausen em- ployee has made statements as a witness to authorities investigating Imhausen on suspicion of illegal ex- ports to Libya. Voegele declined to comment on the substance of the. witness' testimony and would not identify the Imhausen employee, who was not named by Stern'. Stern said the witness told inves- 150 [plant] was in Libya and not In Hong Kong" as SIG has said, Ste§ said. Pharma 150 reportedly is the name both of a pharmaceuticaf§ plant being built in Hong Kong arN of the controversial portion of tl~, Rabta industrial complex. "It was also clear to the SIG em perts, according to the Imhause$ witness, that this was not a sm pharmaceuticals factory, but a larl chemical plant for the production Ig highly toxic substances," Stem sail& SIG said today that its employe@ "have at no time worked for the prg ject in Rabta.... Salzgitter Indua triebau was always told that Ho Kong was the site of the plant. Ij hausen still maintains this today." 0 71 -1 Approved For Reipase 2POP/08/08: CIA-RDP96-0078LYFROO050 -9 Bonn: Li byan Plant des he information V-VcCatney un til. bc t6ber of last , year. Stoltenberg's statements repre- VIMA, smted Jan. another .16-West step Ger- back ' from West %many!s Germany's govermnent, initial, said, irritated today rebuff for of the U.S. first administration time -allegations that that it believes that a controversial five factory West - German in firms Libya helped will con- ' b6 struc able 't to a make chemical poison arms gas, factory but at it continued Rabta, to Libya. insist that it only has indicatiohs The that minister's West remarks German were com- panies made helped in build part the to plant. a news conference, In and comments in to part, reporters afterward in to a corre- Bonn, spondent Finance of Minister the Gerhard Reuter news agen- Stoltenberg cY also ~ disclosed in - that, Bonn., His -comments were . confirmed Bonn in had a obtained telephone information interview as ~prly gust of last with as Au year that, his-.chief spokesman, Karl- -raised cions ~ about Heinz suspi possible von den Driesch, in Bonn. West "We German, have' corporate to involve- assume that at this Ment factory in building there the is factory. a Pre- section that will Aously,'West be German able officials to had, produce poison gas," Stol- said See they QiMANY, were A18, not Col. aware 1 of such Approved For Release 2000/08/08 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO0500070001-9 Ts P64t ,on Ubyan Plant 9 OUMANY, From Al aenberg said in'Bonn. "This assump- Rion is based on-concrete indications gand reports," he said. i. 0 Stoltenberg, whose ministry,,siu- 8~eivises -Customs~'aut.horities' r Ie- Diponsible for enforcing West Ger" Xan laws against chemical arms tj~echnology exports, returned Sat- 'Zbrday fr6m three'.days of,talks'ift 2Vashing Iton, where the Rabta plint was discussed. O-Stolt6fiberg declined to Y when I.he West,Getman"government con- 'itluded that the Rabta facility: will CL CL 1. But he said do( I from -IBI Eng durt-based firm fin essmad Ths4h Bar d a possible: or si, ment by Gem activities7 in Libya e government *f ut Kohl initially.r.4 Rabta~-plpnt:could 'make arms or that any' West German companie s 'had helped in the factory's-construction. Bonn began to back off five days ago when a government spokesman acknowledged that West, German investigators had ~ uncovered ~ "indi- 6tions" AhaV, tmid Vest' German firms may have ihade unauthorized exports to Libyi.-~ Stoltenberg said that the Federal Intelligencie Semice 1hi early August informed the.c'ustoms investigative. "W agency''of: pow le . est German corporate in ,vol~e - t '_ the Lilb in;ien m yan planL~ No Wry was ordered at that time; partly becausethe in- f6miatio'n"was -to-"Vaguile, Stol Iten- berg Sal., In addition, the intelligence, ser, vice strongly recommended that no investigafioti, be,;op'ened out of fear that , an inquiry might tip - off Im- hausen-Chemie ~~'GmbH -of Lahr about official suspkibns, he said. "Imhausen' which' has strongly denied any -involvie'ment with the Libyan factory,_has been identified by the U.S. administration as hav-; ing played a central role in design and constructicia.44he plant, Meanwhile,, the_,,',,,!Vest German weekly magazine Stem reported that a West German state-owned Company had played an important role in - planning the alleged chem- ical arms plant at Rabta. Such in- volvement may explain why the Mest Gerrhan'gbvernment:'has~ de- the~Fmagw . layed launching in inquiry azine said. ;Stern identified the company as Salzgitter Industriebau GnibH, or SIG, whichit said was a unit. of Salz gitter AG of Salzgitter. It quoted a manager of Sl , whom it identified G as Andreas Boehm, as saying that the work in question was1inked not to Libya but to a plant in Hong Kong. Stern also said that Imhausen obtained the main computer for the alleged poison gas plant "in a round- about fashion" from what the rriag7 azine identified.as "the. U.S. c6m- The firm, based in Mrrla_ SDeCializes in air 'cr t M tmnins, and works closel. wit Ty Q Ad-se i-ndu0stry, tern said in a report re leased today ahead of. publication later this~week. [The Associated Press quoted Harris company spokesman as de- nying the report.] Ihsan Barbouti, the Iraqi linked -to one of the West German firms im plicated in the affair, was quoted yesterday as making his first public denial that he was involved in. help- ing to . build a chemical weapons plant.in Libya. - Barbouti, 61, was quoted by the ,,,British weekly newspaper Observer as saying that.he had a: contractun- til June 1987 to help build industrial facilities at Rabta. ',But he was quoted, as saying that the contro-, versial .plant there--' hich Libya ha ficals factory-. says is a p rmaceu was not part his contract and that of he had no.financial interest in it. "Thaf , building was' 60 percent finished When I left 'the site :18 months ago. I don't think they could have built.a chemical weapons fac- tory without my knowledge," Bar- bouti was quoted by,% the Observer as saying. A woman who :answered the phone this evening'at what she identified as Barbouti!s L6ndon-res h 'h idence said t1 at e was not available to comment. She said,she worked there and that she did rot know how to reach Barbouti. She hung up when a correspondent asked for additional information. 00 00 0 04 0 U_ > 0 CL CL Qad Peyman Pejman SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES TRIPOLI, Libya - In what was intended to be a media coup for Lib- ya's Col. Muammar Qaddafi, the gov- ernment invited hundreds of corre- spondents last week to visit the desert factory that Libya says will make medicine - and the United States says will make poison gas. But when about 200 journalists called Col. Qaddafi's bluff, the ex- perience was so embarrassing that the government delayed Saturday's visit, held it at dusk, then expelled the reporters soon afterward. At least 100 journalists, most ei- ther American or European, were put on an afternoon flight to Rome. However, at least 30 others managed to stay by avoiding government offi- cials assigned to keep tabs on them. Libyan officials allowed them to stay one more night. On Thursday, the day after the United States shot down two Libyan planes, 30 foreign reporters who flew in from Rome were sent right back to Italy. Libyan officials were clearly re- luctant to let reporters see the fac- tory, which was built near the village of Rabta, 35 miles southwest of the capital of Tripoli. But when international clamor grew too loud, the Libyans organized a "special tour" for correspondents Saturday. They refused to disclose the destination, but it was assumed - because of Libyan hints - that the destination would be Rabta. The outing turned out to be a day trip to some Roman ruins. When the tour of the plant was finally arranged, it only buttressed AP A tent is erected in front of a Libyan factory near the village of Rabta, about 35 miles southwest of the capital of Tripoli. Reporters visited the factory that Libya says will make medicine, and the U.S. says will make poison gas. the U.S. government's claim that this is no mere pharmaceutical factory. For one thing, Rabta is a barrFn, remote place, an unlikely location for a drug factory. But the clincher was at least a dozen missile batteries, radar and anti-aircraft guns in the area, clearly seen when using binoculars. Several military jeeps, trucks and tents were scattered along the access road. There was no official visit to the factory building itself, and few peo- ple seemed to know exactly where it was. From such evidence as the shape and size of the buildings - and the security measures around them - it can be safely assumed that the fac- tory is a three-story, whitewashed concrete building in the northern part of the village, surrounded by several tents and a man-made earth embankment sheltering a radar. Fearful of a U.S. military strike, the government has placed hun- dreds of Libyans and foreigners in the vicinity of the plant, many of them lacking proper clothing for the cold. Three truckloads of workers, one full of Thai men, were leaving Rabta as the correspondents ar- rived. A Libyan teacher who would not identify himself said he was "posi- tive" that the plant was only a medi- cal one. Asked why he was so cer-. tain, he said, "I know, I read, I [was] told." When a correspondent pointed to the building and asked a Libyan doc- tor if that was the factory, the clanic, response was, "Yes. Whateveeyou wish A European diplomat who dianot wish to be identified said, "It's-Wry obvious what they are doing Mere. Why would you want to build a ar- maceutical plant in such a rcilote place surrounded by missiles?U Although the Libyan goverroent, has denied reports that the fa&ory,, is surrounded by military faciKbies - Libyan pharmaceutical ex]8rts,., working at the plant made at-, tempt to deny the existence the missiles around the factory "We are taking this mattercjeryu-,~'11, seriously," said Dr. Idriss Ibrahim.` "In 1986, the Americans boMbed purely civilian targets and ki>d a lot of people. There is no reasoi~avhy we should not do our best to pi0ect this plant. That's why the misailes are here." He said the missiles wer6 in- stalled after remarks by Reag.Q ad- ministration officials hinted thaothe facility may be bombed. "UnIthe Reagan threat is gone, the mikiiles will remain Dr. Ibrahim said. According to Western diplogffitic sources, Col. Qaddafi summoneathe West German ambassador last !-P ek Ae and asked his government's a6ice on how to ease the tension genested over the issue. Diplomats said.%the ested that LibJ6 let ambassador sugg an international committee inspect the plant. In a statement to reporters last week, Col. Qaddafi said Libya would accept an international inspection of his factory if the committee in- cluded a Libyan representative and would later inspect all suspected poi- son gas factories in Israel, Europe and the United States.