Britain Backs U.S. on Plant

LONDON —  Britain on Wednesday backed American charges that Libya was building a chemical weapons plant near Tripoli and said London has received independent information to prove the allegations.

The British government also said it accepted the U.S. position that two warplanes that shot down two Libyan jet fighters on Wednesday had acted in self-defense.

The United States said the air clash was not linked to rising U.S.-Libyan tension over the alleged weapons plant, which Libya says is a pharmaceuticals factory.

“We have been in contact with a number of countries to make the point that we have independent information on the Libyan chemical weapons program,” a Foreign Office spokesman said in the first British comment on the controversial plant.

“This information shows that the plant is very large and that there can be no doubt it is intended for chemical weapons production,” he added.