Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 20, 1990 TAG: 9003202447
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ROME LENGTH: Medium
Ambassador Rahman Shalgam said the blaze was apparently set by "a member of the technical staff at the factory," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
He said the person responsible will be "executed in the same place where the fire took place."
Shalgam did not say how many people were detained or give their nationalities.
He said the blaze caused "damage of great proportions," and U.S. officials said the plant is inoperable.
But a French company disclosed Monday that photographs taken by the European satellite Spot I show the plant was not destroyed.
"The principal structures of the Libyan chemical factory at Rabta don't seem to have been touched, and there are no traces on the ground . . . of the existence of a fire," said Christian Bernard, a spokesman for Spot Image.
Except for black traces on the small buildings apparently used for storage, "it's like nothing happened at Rabta," said Bernard. He said the small buildings appear to be 800 yards from the main plant. The photographs were taken Sunday.
The blaze broke out Wednesday in the plant in Rabta, about 60 miles southwest of Tripoli. Libya said the factory produces medicines, but the United States and West Germany have alleged it produces poison gas.
Libya has said it suspects that Israel, the United States and West Germany were behind the fire. All three countries have denied involvement.
Shalgam said West Germany is under suspicion because West German firms helped build the plant and would have its technical plans, Italian news agencies reported.
by CNB