Soviets Promise to Investigate U.S. Stand on Libyan Plant, Shultz Says

PARIS —  Secretary of State George P. Shultz said Sunday that Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze has promised that Moscow will conduct a thorough investigation of U.S. charges that Libya is building a chemical weapons plant.

Shultz said he laid out U.S. evidence about the nature of the facility at the desert town of Rabta during a two-hour meeting with Shevardnadze at the home of the Soviet ambassador to France. He said the presentation, which included intelligence not previously shared with Moscow, took about 10 minutes.

“I was gratified by his response because he is as concerned as we are about the spread of chemical weapons,” Shultz told a press conference.

Pointed Questions Expected

“He said he would look into it,” Shultz said. “I have no doubt that he will be asking questions. . . . I have no doubt the questions will be pointed. I think that is a satisfactory response.

“I hope that as they look into it, they may produce evidence on their own,” Shultz added.

Shultz and Shevardnadze were in Paris to attend a 145-nation conference on chemical warfare. Shultz headed back to Washington after his talks with the Soviet foreign minister, although the conference will run through Wednesday.

The Shultz-Shevardnadze meeting was the 31st session between the two men since Shevardnadze was named foreign minister in 1985. Chatting with reporters during a brief photo-taking session before the meeting began, the two men implied that they would meet again, although Shultz leaves office in less than two weeks.

Two Agreements Signed

Departing briefly from the focus on chemical weapons, Shultz and Shevardnadze signed two agreements, negotiated earlier, pledging U.S.-Soviet cooperation in control of the narcotics trade and in scientific research.

When Shevardnadze arrived in Paris on Friday, he said that last week’s incident over the Mediterranean in which two U.S. Navy jets shot down two Libyan warplanes “poisoned the atmosphere” for the chemical weapons conference.

Asked Sunday if he had been able to reassure Shevardnadze about the incident, Shultz replied: “I brought the subject up and I explained to him . . . precisely what happened. Our photographic and audio evidence is quite clear. The pilots acted . . . in defense of themselves.”

He did not say whether Shevardnadze found the explanation persuasive.

Conference Overshadowed

The U.S. dispute with Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadafi overshadowed the conference, which was called to reaffirm a 1925 protocol against the use of poison gas weapons.

However, Shultz said he believes the session has achieved its objective of increasing world concern about the spread and use of chemical weapons.

Asked about a published report that France is about to sell high-performance Mirage warplanes to Libya, Shultz said he has no independent information but added, “The sale of such aircraft to Libya right now would be an unwelcome development, to put it mildly.”

The narcotics agreement calls on the United States and the Soviet Union to exchange information about suspected narcotics traffickers thought to be going from one country to the other and about the importation of illegal drugs to either country.

Emphasis on Narcotics

The United States and the Soviet Union also agreed to organize exchanges of specialists in the control of the illicit narcotics trade. They also agreed to explore the possibility of joint narcotics interdiction programs.

President Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev agreed in principle during their Washington summit in 1987 to establish the cooperative program. Details were worked out in later negotiations.

The scientific cooperation pact calls for joint basic research projects in geosciences, engineering, life sciences, chemistry, mathematics, theoretical physics and scientific matters affecting the Arctic region.

Available to Other Scientists

The agreement provides that information derived from the cooperative activities will be made available to other scientists around the world unless the two sides agree in writing to keep it secret.

The pact runs for five years, with provision for renewal for another five. However, either country can cancel the agreement on six months’ notice.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Arens scolded Shultz for agreeing to begin a dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Talking to reporters after meeting with Shultz, Arens said, “Israel feels that contacts with the PLO and granting any kind of legitimacy to the PLO cannot possibly further the peace process. If anything, it will encourage further acts of terrorism and violence.”