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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 30, 1990                   TAG: 9003300191
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

FIRE DAMAGE TO LIBYAN FACTORY REPORTEDLY LESS THAN THOUGHT

Damage to Libya's chemical factory at Rabta, the suspected chemical weapons plant that caught fire two weeks ago, is not as extensive as first thought, an administration source said Thursday.

"There is far less damage there than we first thought," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials have charged that the plant was producing poison gas, but the Libyans said it was making medicine.

The source declined to indicate definitively how the information had been obtained. U.S. intelligence agencies have relied on satellite photographs for such information in the past.

The source did not give a firm estimate on how long it would take to repair the plant and get it back into production. Before the fire, U.S. officials said it appeared that the plant, after a long period of little production, had begun turning out limited quantities of mustard and nerve gases.

The plant, about 60 miles southwest of Tripoli, caught fire on March 14.

The Libyan ambassador to Italy said last week that the fire had caused great damage and that the facility had been set on fire by a worker at the plant. The ambassador told reporters that several people had been arrested and that the person responsible would be executed.

U.S. officials have said damage to the plant was extensive, and White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the plant was "out of business."

Last week a French company said photographs taken by the European Spot I satellite showed that the plant was not heavily damaged by the fire.

The photograph showed some black traces on buildings apparently used for storage about 800 yards from the main plant.

"The principal structures of the Libyan chemical factory at Rabta don't seem to have been touched," Christian Barnard, a spokesman for Spot Image, said last week.

Libya has accused the United States, Israel and West Germany of being behind the burning of the plant. All three countries have denied it.

by CNB