W. German Engineers Built, Tested Libyan Missiles, Magazine Reports

BONN —  West German technical experts secretly helped to build and test missiles for the Libyan government, Stern magazine, one of the country’s leading periodicals, reported Sunday.

Electronic equipment and missile parts were shipped to Libya by air freight labeled “technical goods,” and the rockets were assembled and tested in a secret location, Stern reported.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the West German news agency, reported Sunday that the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe confirmed that it is investigating the missiles affair on suspicion that West German firms had contravened weapons export laws.

According to the Stern story, which was made public ahead of the weekly magazine’s Tuesday publication, Col. Moammar Kadafi’s government hired West German electronic experts and engineers. They arranged for missile parts and guidance systems to be purchased in West Germany, and the sophisticated equipment and components were put together and tested in the southern Libya desert near the frontier with Chad and Niger and flight-tested there, Stern said.

Evaluations of the tests were then made on computers at West German research institutes, according to the story.

The magazine said that it possesses documents showing that many West German high-technology firms were involved in the affair, including a leading Munich-area electronics company.

West Germany has laws against exporting military equipment without government approval. Also, the Bonn government has joined the United States and European Communities nations in banning shipments of certain sensitive materials to Libya because of acts of terrorism that Libya is accused of supporting.