Word: imhausen
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...Chancellor Helmut Kohl last week admitted that Washington might, after all, know what it was talking about. He changed his mind, Kohl said, after the government examined "certain documents" that had been "seized in the past few days." As prosecutors opened a criminal investigation of the West German firm Imhausen-Chemie and the case produced its first arrest, the growing scandal profoundly embarrassed the West German government and underscored once again the difficulty of controlling the development of chemical weapons...
...trouble understanding why Kohl would refrain from moving against a West German company until Washington backed up its charges with solid evidence. What mystified the Administration was why West German officials stoutly denied the charges when the country's own intelligence agency had offered them evidence of Imhausen-Chemie's complicity as early as last October. Whatever the reason for Bonn's foot-dragging, the U.S. welcomed the change of tune. "The objective now is to let the Germans climb down without further embarrassment," said a senior White House official. "We want to prevent further shipment of German equipment...
...important piece of evidence pointing to the participation of West German firms was obtained last August when U.S. intelligence intercepted telephone conversations between Libyan plant operators and officials of Imhausen-Chemie, which has its headquarters in the Black Forest town of Lahr. The calls reportedly took place after a toxic spill resulted from a bungled attempt by the Libyans to manufacture a test quantity of chemical-weapons material at the still uncompleted plant. In a frantic effort to get advice on cleaning up and repairing the plant, Libyan officials spoke at length with Imhausen-Chemie personnel. Those conversations left...
Kohl's sudden turnabout last week touched off a rash of inquiries in West Germany to establish who knew what and when. On Friday government spokesman Friedhelm Ost said the country's intelligence agency had given Bonn in mid- October "serious information" about Imhausen's possible role in the Libyan project. Whether or not Kohl received those details, he was definitely informed about the U.S. case against Imhausen when he visited Washington in mid-November. Says Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Charles Thomas: "When Kohl left here, he was absolutely convinced." A Kohl adviser was not quite as sweeping...
Through newspaper leaks, the U.S. accused a West German firm, Imhausen- Chemie, of secretly supplying expertise and materials for building the plant. German officials insist that their investigation has turned up no proof to support these claims, though they agreed to examine more of the U.S. evidence this week. Privately the Reagan Administration warns that it may name five West German companies, two in Switzerland and some in unidentified other European nations that are involved in the Rabta project if their governments do not cut off such help to Gaddafi...