Scud Parts Bound for Libya Intercepted

Officials confirmed that they had caught Libya trying to smuggle components of Scud missiles through London, and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said a strong protest would be lodged. Filing that protest will be the first official act of Britain’s new ambassador to Libya, Richard Dalton, who arrived in Tripoli four days ago. The components, discovered at Gatwick Airport in boxes labeled “auto parts,” were headed to Malta; from there, they were to go to Libya. The boxes, from a Chinese company called Hontex, were found Nov. 24 after arriving from Taiwan. The British seized that shipment, but there was evidence that other such shipments from China had traveled through Britain undetected and arrived in Libya.