WMD Experts Arriving in Libya

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-01-24 08:37pm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... world.html

Weapons experts arrive to begin disarming Libya
By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor
(Filed: 20/01/2004)

The first British and American weapons experts have
arrived secretly in Libya to begin dismantling Col Muammar Gaddafi's weapons of mass destruction, senior western diplomats said last night.

An advance team of about a dozen experts in all four key weapons programmes - nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic missiles - arrived in Tripoli on Sunday. The main group is expected later this week.

"Our intention is to move very quickly," said a senior source. "We want to get as much out of Libya or destroyed as soon as possible, particularly on the nuclear side. The timeframe is weeks or months, not years."

The arrival of the teams, overseen by the CIA and MI6, is further evidence of Col Gaddafi's extraordinary attempt to re-invent himself after decades of radical anti-western ideology.

Washington and London despatched their experts before senior diplomats in Vienna negotiated a face- saving agreement with the United Nations nuclear watchdog yesterday.

Having squabbled for weeks over who should take the lead in dismantling Libya's nuclear weapons programme, the United States, Britain and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have reached a delicate compromise.

The IAEA will formally be in charge of "verifying" the process, while the United States and Britain will, officially, provide "logistical help".

In reality, however, Washington and London will carry out the real disarmament - including dismantling facilities, destroying equipment and removing sensitive nuclear materials - while the IAEA will provide the international stamp of approval.

"I think we have an agreement on what needs to be done. The agency's role is very clear. We need to do the verification," said Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA.

"We clearly need British and American support with logistics and I think the meeting was trying to co- ordinate our co-operation. We are trying to move fast. It's important that we move fast."

John Bolton, the United States Under-Secretary of State for counter-proliferation who has frequently criticised the IAEA, was also upbeat after the three- hour meeting.

"It was a very productive meeting. I think we're on the same page with the IAEA on this very important project."

William Ehrman, the British envoy, left Vienna without speaking. The Foreign Office would give no details, except to say: "It was a constructive and productive meeting."

But behind the cordial words, real tensions remain.

Washington is deeply suspicious of the UN, and wants to maintain direct control of the disarmament process, while Mr ElBaradei is determined to resist any attempt to usurp the IAEA's role in policing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

At one point, Mr ElBaradei challenged the claim by the United States and Britain that Libya was relatively close to producing an atomic bomb, claiming its equipment for uranium enrichment centrifuges was "still in crates".

Western diplomats last night were adamant that the United States and Britain "got what they wanted".

After the talks in Vienna, Mr Bolton and Mr Ehrman flew to The Hague to negotiate a similar arrangement with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the body responsible for enforcing the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Given the difficulty of removing stocks of poison gas, these weapons are likely to be destroyed in Libya itself.

Washington and London would be exclusively responsible for dismantling Libya's biological and missile programmes because no UN body existed to deal with these weapons.

Details over how to implement Col Gaddafi's promise to rid Libya of weapons of mass destructions were agreed during secret talks in London this month between Musa Kusa, the Libyan intelligence chief, and senior officials from the CIA, MI6 and the Foreign Office.

The start of disarmament sets the stage for the visit to London later this month of Abdulrahman Shalgamya, the Libyan foreign minister. His trip would, in turn, pave the way for a meeting between Tony Blair and Col Gaddafi within a few months.

American officials said that, as Libya began to disarm, Washington would start to restore diplomatic relations and lift its economic embargo.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-01-25 08:01pm

Read in the paper today that our inspectors are gonna dismantle Libya's shit
and ship it to the US!

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2004-01-25 08:33pm

And the fruits of our labors in Iraq are coming to bear.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-01-26 12:11am

Its too bad that Libya's ballistic missiles are all liquid fueled uber V-2's, solid fuel rocket engines are far more fun, the only way to "dismantle" them involves a match and running real fast.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-01-26 01:21am

Nathan F wrote:And the fruits of our labors in Iraq are coming to bear.

Libyas actions may have nothing to with Iraq as many experts believe.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-01-26 01:29am

evilcat4000 wrote: Libyas actions may have nothing to with Iraq as many experts believe.

Bullllshit. Mohammar saw what happened to saddam when he didn't go
open and let inspectors in post-haste, and he saw Saddam removed
from power..

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2004-01-26 11:04am

Hmmm lets analyze that.

Before Iraq: Libya gave us the big finger on almost all matters.

After Iraq: Libya scurries to get on our good side and reveals their WMD programs.

Hmmmmmm

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2004-01-26 11:15am

MKSheppard wrote:
evilcat4000 wrote: Libyas actions may have nothing to with Iraq as many experts believe.
Bullllshit. Mohammar saw what happened to saddam when he didn't go
open and let inspectors in post-haste, and he saw Saddam removed
from power..

Strike that, "removed from power in quite an embarassing way."

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2004-01-26 11:48am

KrauserKrauser wrote:Hmmm lets analyze that.

Before Iraq: Libya gave us the big finger on almost all matters.

After Iraq: Libya scurries to get on our good side and reveals their WMD programs.

Hmmmmmm

Before Iraq: Libya working with UK to normalise relations and get UN sanctions dropped.

After Iraq: Continuing process begun earlier

As much as certain people would like to make this out to be a victory for stick wielders everywhere the truth is that Libya is simply continuing the process they have had for years of trying to get back at the carrot.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-01-26 11:55am

TheDarkling wrote:
Before Iraq: Libya working with UK to normalise relations and get UN sanctions dropped.

After Iraq: Continuing process begun earlier

As much as certain people would like to make this out to be a victory for stick wielders everywhere the truth is that Libya is simply continuing the process they have had for years of trying to get back at the carrot.

There was no mention by Libya of giving up its WMD program, until the same month Operation Iraqi Freedom began when they asked to open secret talks on it. That is not likely to have been a coincidence.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-01-27 06:32pm

http://www.volunteertv.com/global/story ... =Printable

WASHINGTON (AP) — An American plane carrying components of Libya's nuclear weapons program has arrived in the United States as Moammar Gadhafi follows through on a pledge to dismantle the program.

The plane landed in Tennessee, where the equipment will be unloaded and evaluated, probably at the Oak Ridge nuclear weapons plant, an administration official told The Associated Press.

Get more details tonight on WVLT VOLUNTEER TV News at 5:30.

Gadhafi, trying to break out of diplomatic isolation and seeking a lifting of U.S. economic sanctions, has promised to end development of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction.

Rep. Tom Lantos, the senior Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, met Monday in Tripoli with Gadhafi for 90 minutes and reported the Libyan leader intended to follow through on his pledge.

Lantos, in an interview, said he would urge Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., to join him in a bipartisan appeal to the Bush administration to show "good faith" in Gadhafi by ending a ban on travel to Libya.

Gadhafi's historic turnabout, promoted by Britain with U.S. support, is being cited by the White House as a triumph in the campaign to halt the spread of nuclear technology.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2004-01-27 06:32pm

Update: We're now getting shipments of parts of their nuclear program here in TN at the Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab, just down the road from me.
Linkage

Y-12 Receives Shipment of Nukes from Libya

By BARRY SCHWEID
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — An American plane carrying components of Libya's nuclear weapons program has arrived in the United States as Moammar Gadhafi follows through on a pledge to dismantle the program.

The plane landed in Tennessee, where the equipment will be unloaded and evaluated, probably at the Oak Ridge nuclear weapons plant, an administration official told The Associated Press.

Gadhafi, trying to break out of diplomatic isolation and seeking a lifting of U.S. economic sanctions, has promised to end development of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction.

Rep. Tom Lantos, the senior Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, met Monday in Tripoli with Gadhafi for 90 minutes and reported the Libyan leader intended to follow through on his pledge.

Lantos, in an interview, said he would urge Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., to join him in a bipartisan appeal to the Bush administration to show "good faith" in Gadhafi by ending a ban on travel to Libya.

Gadhafi's historic turnabout, promoted by Britain with U.S. support, is being cited by the White House as a triumph in the campaign to halt the spread of nuclear technology.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.
1/27/2004 3:05pm

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-01-27 06:41pm

Looks like Shep is faster at the trigger than you are Nathan.

Anyway, good news. Gaddafi has had that look in his eye for far too long and it's about time he dismanted.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-01-27 06:45pm

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S plane filled with Libyan nuclear components landed this morning at a U.S. facility in Knoxville, Tennessee, for destruction, a senior administration official said.

"It is chock full of nuclear materials," the official said. "They let us take out some extraordinary stuff."

The C-17 filled with nuclear materials followed a planeload of documents -- which arrived in the United States last week -- related to Libya's weapons of mass destruction program.

The plane will return to Libya in early February to transport another load of nuclear materials to the United States, the official said.

"They had a lot of stuff," this official said. "We have more plans to take materials out, but this is quite a step forward."

Libya has a substantive amount of chemical material, the official said, and some of it might be destroyed in the country because "some of the containers are leaking."

"Removing the chemical material poses particular problems," the official said. "We have to see."

The official said that the Libyans have been extremely cooperative and "there has been quite a commitment on the part of (Libyan leader Moammar) Gadhafi's part to make this happen."

"The senior levels of both governments want to make this happen," he said.

U.S officials have said that once Libya demonstrates some progress toward it disarmament, the United States will move to reward them, including possible high-level visits by U.S. officials, putting a U.S. diplomatic presence in the U.S. interests section in the Belgian Embassy in Tripoli and easing some sanctions, such as the ban on using U.S. passports and spending money in the country.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2004-01-27 06:46pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:Looks like Shep is faster at the trigger than you are Nathan.

Anyway, good news. Gaddafi has had that look in his eye for far too long and it's about time he dismanted.

Only because I gave him the damn link. :p

Damn you, Shep, whenever I give you news stories, you're not supposed to take credit for finding them.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-01-27 09:37pm

Good old Momar saw Saddam being pulled out of that spider-hole and said "That ain't gonna happen to me." I think this has EVERYTHING to do with what we did to Iraq.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-01-27 10:38pm

I'm sure it didn't hurt Momar's decision making process on this account that in the 80's the US dropped a bunch of bombs in his back yard.