ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96040402.NNE
DATE:04/04/96
TITLE:04-04-96  TRANSCRIPT: PERRY MEDIA AVAILABILITY, ISMAILIA, EGYPT

TEXT:
(Expresses concern about Libya's chemical weapons program) (770)

Ismailia, Egypt -- Secretary of Defense William J. Perry says the
United States is seriously concerned about the chemical weapons
development program in Libya.

Briefing the traveling press on April 3, Perry said his meeting with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was primarily about regional security
issues, including Libya's chemical weapons development program.

Responding to a question, Perry said he provided Mubarak with evidence
that "the Libyans are not now producing chemical weapons, but they
have an extensive program underway to develop a chemical weapon
production facility. ... The threat from those chemical weapons is not
just to the United States, or even primarily to the United States.
It's a threat to the regional powers around here, including Egypt."

Perry said the U.S. will not allow the plant to open.

Following is the official transcript of the media availability, as
provided by USIS Cairo:

(Begin transcript)

Q:  (Inaudible)

A: Let me give you a quick summary. I've had three different, major
meetings today. I met with President Mubarak this morning, then with
Field Marshal Tantawi at the Ministry of Defense and now, of course,
with Gen. Ali here at the Second Field Army. I'll briefly summarize
the discussions with each of them. With President Mubarak we talked
primarily about regional security issues. He described to me his
visit, he just returned from Syria, and I described to him my visit to
Bosnia. We did talk about other regional security issues, in addition,
including the chemical weapons development program in Libya. I gave
him an assessment, an American assessment, of what was going on there.
I told him we were seriously concerned with it, and offered to arrange
to provide him with a detailed intelligence briefing in the weeks
ahead. We then had a very good discussion with Minister Tantawi. The
relations, the defense relationship, between the United States and
Egypt are at an all-time high, I believe. We have many important
security assistance programs, in F-16s, the frigates and the tank
production effort. All of those are going very well. So we had very
good discussions with Minister Tantawi. We also talked about regional
security issues. Now, out here at the Second Field Army, I am very
impressed with what they are doing, not only in maintaining their
readiness of the forces here but, also, you may have seen, the dual
use of what they are doing in agricultural production. Very
impressive. Now, it is to me, very interesting to see this historical
monument that has been set up to commemorate the War of 1973.

Q: Mr. Secretary, did you provide any hard evidence to President
Mubarak on what you have called the expansion of the active chemical
weapons program in Libya?

A:  Yes, I did.

Q:  Could you give us some idea of what that was.  Photographs?

A: I discussed a variety of evidence we have. I showed him
photographs. And they demonstrate that the Libyans are not now
producing chemical weapons, but they have an extensive program
underway to develop a chemical weapon production facility. And I
provided him some evidence to support that conclusion.

Q: Does that include the reports of the underground facility that they
are building?

A:  Yes, it does.

Q: How far away are they from being able to produce in your estimate?

A: I don't want to give you that estimate. We're getting really now
pretty deeply into intelligence information. But it is not imminent.

Q:  Mr. Secretary, will the United States allow that plant to open?

A:  No.

Q:  You will not allow the plant to open?

A: I do not want to comment any further on that, but the answer is no.

Q:  Would you rule out the use of U.S. military force to...

A:  I wouldn't rule anything out or anything in.

Q: Did you ask Egypt to help in preventing it from becoming a reality?

A: I wanted to be sure that Egypt was aware of our assessment. And the
threat from those chemical weapons is not just to the United States,
or even primarily to the United States. It's a threat to the regional
powers around here, including Egypt, so I wanted Egypt to be very much
aware of that.

Q:  What was President Mubarak's reaction on all of this?

A: He was very interested, and requested and I agreed to give him a
detailed intelligence assessment.

Q:  Is there a biological weapons component to this?

A:  No comment.

Thank you very much.

(End transcript)
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