{"id":276,"date":"2005-11-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-11-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2010-10-01T20:26:49","modified_gmt":"2010-10-01T20:26:49","slug":"qa-libyas-secret-wmd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/qa-libyas-secret-wmd\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Libya’s secret WMD"},"content":{"rendered":"


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<\/v:stroke><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:f><\/v:formulas><\/v:path><\/o:lock><\/v:shapetype>\"Libya's<\/o:p><\/SPAN><\/P>
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Gaddafi’s government took responsibility for the Lockerbie bomb<\/o:p><\/SPAN><\/P><\/TD><\/TR><\/TBODY><\/TABLE>
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Saturday, 20 <\/SPAN><\/SPAN>December<\/SPAN><\/SPAN>, 2003<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P>
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Libya<\/SPAN><\/B><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> has admitted trying to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – but has promised to dismantle its programme. <\/SPAN><\/B><\/P>
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BBC News Online looks at the main issues arising from Tripoli’s decision. <\/SPAN><\/B><\/P>
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Q: What is known about Libya’s WMD programme?<\/SPAN><\/B> <\/SPAN><\/P>
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A: Until now, not much, although arms control experts have long believed that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime had a number of clandestine programmes. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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In two trips to Libya in October and December this year, US and British experts were shown “the substances, equipment and programmes” that could lead to the production of banned weapons. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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The experts saw “a significant amount of mustard chemical agent”, according to a US official. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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This had been produced more than a decade ago at a plant in Rabta, now believed to be inactive. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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According to previous US estimates, Libya had made its greatest strides with chemical weapons, producing about 100 tons of mustard gas and nerve agents in the 1980s. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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A CIA report released to the US Congress in November said: “Tripoli still appeared to be working towards an offensive CW (chemical warfare) capability and eventual indigenous production.” <\/SPAN><\/P>
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The report added: “Evidence suggested that Libya also sought dual-use capabilities that could be used to develop and produce BW (biological warfare) agents.” <\/SPAN><\/P>
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US officials said Libya had also acknowledged co-operating with North Korea to develop extended-range Scud missiles, as its ageing Scud missile force was of only limited use. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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Q: What is known about Libya’s nuclear intentions? <\/SPAN><\/B><\/P>
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A: Bush administration officials say Tripoli’s most significant acknowledgement was that it had a programme intended to enrich uranium for use in nuclear weapons. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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The US and British team visited 10 sites related to Libya’s nuclear programme, which was more advanced than previously thought. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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The experts saw components of a centrifuge programme to enrich uranium but did not see a fully operational system. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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Some UK officials have said that before the deal, Libya was close to obtaining nuclear weapons capability. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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However, the CIA report said Libya had made little progress in developing or acquiring a nuclear weapon. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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Libya – which signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – has a Soviet-made research reactor at Tajura that is under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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But several Western diplomats have said there were indications that Libya had been trying to kick-start its nuclear programme by gathering a team of nuclear experts form ex-communist states in Eastern Europe. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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The diplomats said that “segments of the IAEA have become very concerned about Libya,” Reuters news agency reported. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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Q: Why Libya has decided to come clean now?<\/SPAN><\/B> <\/SPAN><\/P>
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The key factors have been growing pressure from the West and Colonel Gaddafi’s desire to take his country back into the international fold, analysts say. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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They say the process of Libya’s gradual rehabilitation started earlier this year, with the agreement on a compensation deal over the Lockerbie bombing. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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The move was rewarded by lifting of the United Nations sanctions against Libya in September. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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Experts say that economic reasons have also played a major part in Libya’s decision to abandon its WMD programme. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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Tripoli currently does not have the means to pursue such a programme and is also too dependent on Western markets to sell its oil. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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Q: Is the US likely to lift its unilateral sanctions on Libya?<\/SPAN><\/B> <\/SPAN><\/P>
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Tripoli will certainly be hoping that Washington will follow the UN example. <\/o:p><\/SPAN><\/P>
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President Bush has praised Libya’s decision to abandon WMD programmes and hinted at better relations with the US. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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And an end to sanctions could allow US oil companies back into Libya where they once produced more than one million barrels per day. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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But US officials have cautioned against expecting any immediate lifting of sanctions. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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“We are at the start,” one official said. “We’re taking it one step at a time.” <\/SPAN><\/P>
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Q: What effect will Libya’s decision have on other pariah countries with nuclear ambitions? <\/SPAN><\/B><\/P>
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It sets an interesting precedent. Iran and North Korea – the two nations already under heavy pressure from the US to abandon their nuclear programmes – are now expected to feel even more heat from Washington. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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In an apparent warning to Tehran and Pyongyang, President Bush said in his statement that he hoped “other leaders will find an example”. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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According to some analysts, <\/SPAN>Syria<\/SPAN><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> could also come under increasing pressure over its weapons programme. <\/SPAN><\/P>
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BBC<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/P>
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 <\/FONT><\/o:p><\/SPAN><\/P><\/TD><\/TR><\/TBODY><\/TABLE><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gaddafi’s government took responsibility for the Lockerbie bomb Saturday, 20 December, 2003   Libya has admitted trying to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – but has promised to dismantle its programme.   BBC News Online looks at the main issues arising from Tripoli’s decision.       Q: What is known about Libya’s WMD …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-assyrian-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}