WASHINGTON (AFP) Oct 31, 2002 - Libya is seeking to acquire longer range missiles, the head of the Pentagon's missile defense agency said Thursday, pointing to an emerging threat in north Africa.

"The Libyans have been pretty active in trying to get missile capabilities, and not just short range," Air Force General Ronald Kadish told reporters here.

Kadish declined to go into detail about the emerging Libyan missile threat but indicated that his agency takes a dimmer view of developments there than is reflected in US intelligence estimates.

"I will say this, they have enough money to buy it," he said of the Libyans.

Kadish acknowledged, however, that Libya's indigenous capabilities appear "not as good as they thought it was."

He cited Libya along with North Korea, Iran and Iraq as countries that are seeking short to long range missiles.

He said that despite a moratorium on flight tests, North Korea continues to develop its long range Taepo-dong II, which is capable of reaching the United States.

Iran also continues to test and make progress on its medium range missiles, he said.

Asked how Libya's missile effort compares to that of Syria, Kadish said Damascus has confined its effort to short-range missiles. The Libyans also have more equipment than the Syrians, he said.

A December 2001 US national intelligence estimate said that UN sanctions had impeded Libyan efforts to obtain foreign assistance for its longer range missile programs, but Tripoli would still try to obtain longer range missiles to put at risk US and NATO targets.

"Libyas missile program depends on foreign support, without which the program eventually would grind to a halt," the estimate said.

Kadish suggested that because of its work his Missile Defense Agency pays closer attention to missile proliferation in countries like Libya than does the broader intelligence community.

At the same time, it takes a broader view of the threat because it is developing defenses against the outer limits of a country's capabilities, he explained.