Czech Rulers Sold Libya Explosives, Havel Reveals

Czechoslovakia’s president said today his country’s former rulers sold Libya 1,000 tons of a virtually undetectable explosive, enough to supply the world’s terrorists for 150 years.

Vaclav Havel, on the second day of a state visit to Britain, told a news conference that Czechoslovakia was unable to force Libya to return the Semtex, a high explosive ideal for bomb makers since it cannot be detected by sniffer dogs or X-ray machines.

Security experts believe that Semtex was used in a number of attacks, including the bombing of a Pan Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December, 1988, that killed all 259 people aboard the airliner and 11 on the ground.

Many of those who died were Americans on their way home for the Christmas holidays.

“We have ceased exporting this explosive some time ago but the past regime exported 1,000 tons to Libya. Two hundred grams (7 ounces) are enough to blow up an aircraft so world terrorism has supplies of Semtex to last 150 years,” Havel said.

Havel said the Communists had in the past sold Semtex for political reasons.

“The absurd side of the matter is that Czechoslovakia did not even make money on it. It was something which was not done for money. It was done on political orders which came from above to sell Semtex abroad,” Havel said. He did not elaborate.

Havel stopped short of saying that Czechoslovakia would no longer manufacture Semtex, but defended its production for peaceful use.

“This is an industrial explosive necessary for various industrial purposes,” he said. “It is not an explosive made especially for terrorists.”

Some countries have similar explosives to Semtex that had been used in terrorist actions for which Czechoslovakia was blamed, Havel said. “Often it is difficult to tell whether the explosive was Semtex or some similar sort manufactured elsewhere.”

Investigators say traces of a chemical constituent of Semtex were found in the wreckage of a French DC-10 that blew up over the Sahara last year, killing 170 people.