Source: Office of the Secretary of Defense, Proliferation: Threat and Response, April 1996, p. 27.

WASHINGTON, March 19, 1997 (UPI) -- American intelligence agencies have detected no resumption of construction at a suspected chemical weapons plant in Libya, a facility the United States threatened to destroy with a nuclear attack if necessary.

Arms Control and Disarmament Agency Director John Holum says U.S. intelligence agencies, which primarily rely on satellite reconnaissance and close scrutiny of shipping records for items that might contribute to a chemical arms program, have found nothing indicating renewed activity at the site.

Holum tells reporters, "Our latest reports are that construction has halted at that plant."

The Clinton administration began a campaign more than a year ago to expose the Libyan chemical arms plant, which was under construction deep inside a hill in the town of Tarhunah, near Tripoli. The campaign aimed to force Col. Moammar Gadhafi to halt development of what then-CIA Director John Deutch said would be the largest chemical weapons facility in the world.

Former Defense Secretary William Perry told Congress last year the United States would not allow Libya to complete the Tarhunah plant, and said "the whole range of American weapons" would be considered to stop it.

An envoy from Egypt, which maintains relations with Libya despite its support for international terrorism and weapons development, inspected the site last year and said he found no evidence to refute Libyan claims they were building a fertilizer factory.

Holum says the United States has kept a close eye on Tarhunah since then, and intelligence analysts believe construction has not resumed.

(Return to "B61-11 Concerns and Background")