LIBYA: UN nuclear inspectors are expected to travel to Libya soon to begin the effective dismantling of the country's nuclear programme, which western intelligence officers say is more extensive than thought.
Following Friday's dramatic announcement that Muammar Gadafy, the Libyan leader, was ready to rid his country of banned weapons, a Libyan delegation met Dr Mohamed El Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna on Saturday.
The delegation is understood to have told the IAEA that Libya was ready to sign the so-called additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty. This would allow for intrusive inspections of suspected nuclear sites.
On Friday Mr Gadafy declared that Libya would become only the second country, after South Africa, to disarm voluntarily.
The decision is expected to put pressure on other countries, particularly North Korea and Syria, recently accused by the US of having nuclear weapons ambitions.
President George W Bush said on Friday that US willingness to work with co-operative countries and to invade an unco-operative one such as Iraq had "sent an unmistakable message to regimes that would seek or possess weapons of mass destruction". Libya's announcement came after nine months of secret talks with the US and Britain, and after visits by US and British inspectors to Libya that uncovered a more extensive programme than originally thought. Libya succeeded in enriching uranium and had the skills to build centrifuges that would have allowed it to construct key parts of a nuclear programme without foreign assistance, a senior western intelligence officer said.
While Libya had used foreign expertise and overseas suppliers to start its weapons projects, it took a strategic decision to minimise its dependence on other states.
"They had centrifuges turning and were making enriched uranium, and once you are able to enrich uranium yourself you are way down the road," he said.
Libya also admitted producing mustard gas and seeking to collaborate with North Korea on long-range missiles.
Officials say that the success of the negotiations depended on being able to show the Libyans that a great deal was known about what they were doing, and combining revelations with veiled threats.
"The key intention was to bring the Libyans into the real world. We told them: you can see what's going in Iraq," the officer said. "They realised we knew something. They couldn't deny what we were saying. They went into the room to negotiate, and we switched the lights on. They could see what we knew, and couldn't deny it."
Libya's strong opposition to the al-Qaeda terrorist network is also a key factor in the readiness of the US to draw closer to Mr Gadafy's regime. Libya was the first country to issue an arrest warrant for Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, and is detaining members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), affiliated to al-Qaeda.
Mr Gadaffi's decision was hailed by world leaders as a wise and responsible step.
"We are turning our swords into ploughshares and this step should be appreciated and followed by all other countries," Libyan Prime Minister Mr Shokri Ghanem said of Friday's statement, adding that economic progress was more important than arms.
But Britain, which played a key role in talks that persuaded Tripoli to abandon its arms ambitions, said the fate that befell Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein may have prompted the move.
"We showed after Saddam Hussein failed to co-operate with the United Nations that we meant business and Libya, and I hope other countries, will draw that lesson," Defence Secretary Mr Geoff Hoon said.
- (Financial Times)