Administration sources said Washington was refraining from publicly accusing Somalia because it did not want to be forced to either produce evidence or reveal how it obtained nerve gas from Libya
By James M. Dorsey
Somalia has obtained nerve gas from Libya but has refrained from employing it in its civil war for fear of an international outcry, according to Western intelligence and Somali opposition sources.
The sources said Libya delivered the nerve gas on Oct. 7 aboard a Libyan Arab Airlines jetliner.
Somalia has denied charges that it has received chemical weapons from Libya.
A congressional source said crates with a Latin description of their chemical content destined for Somalia were seen at a Libyan airport. The source did not say when the sighting occurred.
The gas, the sources said, was obtained by Libya from Iran and was not manufactured at the plant outside the Libyan capital of Tripoli that the United States has charged is designed to manufacture chemical weapons.
Disclosures about the alleged delivery coincides with Somali Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Samantar’s arrival in Washington. The prime minister is waging a diplomatic campaign to win support for his government’s efforts to end the crippling civil war and liberalize the country’s state-run economy.
Administration sources said Washington was refraining from publicly accusing Somalia because it did not want to be forced to either produce evidence or reveal how it was obtained. Moreover, the sources said, the administration wishes to encourage efforts by President Mohamed Siyad Barre to end the war.
Mohammed Ahmed Farah, a spokesman for the rebel Somali National Movement, said the Libyan shipment had been negotiated by Gen. Mohammed Hashi Gani and Gen. Mohammed Osman during a visit to Tripoli in September.
“The brutality of the regime is underscored by the acquisition and stockpiling of nerve gas,” Mr. Farah said.
In a related development, The New York Times reported yesterday that Iran’s West German Embassy plays a key role in ordering components for chemical weapons.
“The Libyan program got attention because it was new and because it involved [Col. Muammar] Qaddafi,” the paper quoted a U.S. official as saying, referring to Washington’s charges about the chemical factory near Tripoli. “Iran’s program has been going on for quite some time and we are trying to slow it down by putting pressure behind the scene on supply of chemicals.”
In regard to U.S.-Somali relations, administration officials said they were encouraged that nerve gas has not been used in the civil war and by Mr. Barre’s endorsement of a constitutional committee’s report calling for a “political solution” to the conflict. The war has pitted the Isaaq tribe, which accounts for one-third of the population, against the regime in Mogadishu.
The report demanded:
- The release of all prisoners detained since the fighting began in June.
- A halt to arbitrary arrests.
- Demilitarization of towns in the north.
- Relaxation of a ban on public meetings.
- Appointment of local people to positions of civil authority.
- Economic reconstruction.
The officials said the administration would urge Congress to release some of the aid funds it froze last year until Somalia took steps to end the war.
Somalia’s ambassador to Washington, Abdullahi Ahmed Addou, said Prime Minister Samantar hopes to convince the United States of his government’s moves to abolish repression and dismantle state control of the economy. He said Somalia was still working on the degree of support it would need from donor countries.
