Chemical production plant, Rabta, Libya. Satellite view of the Rabta chemical plant in Libya. Rabta was built in the mid 1980s. Although classed as a pharmaceutical factory, it was alleged that Rabta produced banned chemical weapons such as sarin and mustard gas. In 2003, the Libyan government admitted the production of weapons of mass destruction and began a program of disarmament. Chemical weapons such as sarin attack the human nervous system causing severe illness, even death. This image was taken by the Ikonos satellite, the first commercial satellite to collect data at one- metre resolution. Image taken on 23 January 2002.