ACCESSION NUMBER:292793 FILE ID:TXT204 DATE:07/06/93 TITLE:SHIPMENTS TO LIBYA BLOCKED (07/06/93) TEXT:*93070604.TXT SHIPMENTS TO LIBYA BLOCKED (VOA Editorial) (480) (Following is an editorial, broadcast by the Voice of America July 3, reflecting the views of the U.S. government.) Through the cooperation of the international community and the U.N. Security Council, Libya has been denied shipments of materials that could have been used in that country's chemical weapons and missile programs. Singapore blocked a shipment of reactor vessels (containers) produced in Malaysia that could have been used for mixing the ingredients of poison gas. Ukraine blocked the shipment of a key ingredient in the solid fuel used to propel ballistic missiles. For several years, the United States and other countries have been concerned about Libyan efforts to develop chemical weapons. Thwarting the Libyan chemical weapons program is one of the highest priorities of U.S. non-proliferation policy. Along with Britain, the United States worked intensively to stop the shipment of eight Malaysian stainless steel reactor vessels to Libya. The United States agreed with Britain that these vessels would have been used in the production of chemical weapons. The U.N. sanctions committee shared this judgment and determined that shipment of the vessels to Libya would violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 748, which prohibits the transfer of weapons or weapons-related items to Libya. 1 The government of Singapore complied with the sanctions committee decision and blocked the shipment. The vessels have now been shipped back to their port of origin in Malaysia, and the United States is confident that the government of Malaysia will follow Singapore's lead in ensuring that they will not be shipped to Libya. In Ukraine, government officials impounded a shipment of ammonium perchlorate from Russia that was intended for Libya. Ammonium perchlorate is an ingredient in solid rocket fuel and its transfer is restricted under the Missile Technology Control Regime. The United States welcomed the Ukrainian action. Seizing this cargo demonstrates a responsible approach to non-proliferation by the Ukrainian government. The United States urges the government of Russia to accept return of the ammonium perchlorate from Ukraine, and requests the assistance of all concerned governments to ensure that this shipment does not reach Libya or Libyan procurement agents. The Libyan regime of Muammar Qadhafi has been a state sponsor of international terrorism for many years. Last year, the U.N. Security Council placed sanctions on Libya because of the Qadhafi regime's refusal to cooperate in bringing to justice Libyan officials responsible for the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner and the 1989 bombing of a French airliner. The United States urges all countries to comply with the U.N. sanctions and refrain from shipping any weapons or weapons-related items to Libya. It is especially important to deny this terrorist state the means to produce weapons of mass destruction or the missiles that could be used to deliver them. NNNN .