Serbia is helping Libya with ballistic missiles, CIA says
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12,1996 / PAGE A3
By Bill Gertz
Serbia is. secretly providing technical support for Libya's medium-range ballistic-missile program in violation of a United Nations arms embargo on the rogue north African state, according to CIA officials.
The help is part of a $30 million agreement struck last summer, agency officials said.
The U.N. sanctions were imposed in 1992 for Libya's failure to turn over two men charged by the United States and Britain in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 102 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 persons.
The sanctions bar transferring of military goods and giving military technical advice or training.
Details of the Serbian-Libyan missile agreement were disclosed in a secret report sent to the Pentagon last month by officials of the CIA's office of transnational security and technology issues.
According to the officials, a Serbian company known as JPL Systems in July signed a $30 million contract with officials of Libya's Al Fatah missile-development program to provide technical support.
There were several exchanges, and meetings between JPL and Libyan officials, including a visit to JPL systems by the Libyan missile program director several weeks ago.
The Al Fatah is a Libyan- manufactured missile that has been in development since the early 19909. The Pentagon estimates it could have a range of up to 590 miles, enough to hit targets throughout southern Europe.
It is not clear what role Serbian technical experts are playing in Al Fatah development. Its missile expertise has been limited to produc- tion of long-range multiple-rocket launcher systems.
Libya's missile arsenal includes short-range Soviet SS-21 and unguided Scud-type missiles. Several countries, including North Korea and Iraq, have adapted Scuds and Scud technology to carry heavier payloads and fly longer distances.
A Pentagon report in April said Libya might acquire longer-range missiles, such as the North Korean No Dong missile with a range of 620 miles. Libya's indigenous missile program has been impeded by U.N. sanctions, but the report said it "continues to receive government support."
Tripoli also produces chemical weapons. Defense Secretary William J. Perry warned in May that the United States would not rule out the use of military force to halt the completion of a large Libyan chemical-weapons facility being built outside Tripoli.
The New York Times, quoting a senior European military official, reported last week that Serbia's government-run arms manufacturers are secretly shipping weapons and other materials to Libya.
A major Serbian arms dealer told the newspaper that in July, several senior Serbian arms- industry officials met with Libyan officials in Tripoli. The dealer refused to say what was discussed.
U.S. officials urged senior Serbian officials to end the agreement. The Clinton administration, however, has not blamed the arms trade on Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
The arms shipments first came to light in August after a Russian IL-76 transport crashed near Belgrade. Western intelligence agencies believe its unspecified military cargo was destined for Libya.
President Clinton tightened sanctions against Iran and Libya in August by signing a law penalizing non-U. S. companies that invest more than $40 million or more annually in the oil and gas sectors of the two countries.
An Iranian ship was reported to
have violated the U.N. sanctions in
September for delivering arms
and explosives to Libya.
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