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Libya had little WMD success: CIA

* Tripoli to ‘immediately’ sign additional IAEA protocol

WASHINGTON: Despite its label as a “rogue state,” past US intelligence assessments indicate Libya has had little success over the years with programmes to develop chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

A Pentagon report in 2001 said Libya’s biological weapons programme “remains in the research and development stage.”

“Without foreign assistance and technical expertise to help Libya use available dual use materials, the Libyan biological warfare programme is not likely to make significant progress beyond its current stage,” the report said.

That report also said Libya had made little progress on its longstanding goal of acquiring or developing a nuclear weapon although it might be trying to recruit foreign experts to help.

More recently, a CIA report to Congress released in November of this year affirmed Libya’s reliance on foreign expertise and technology, (notably from Iran, India, China and Serbia, with possible direct purchase from Iran and North Korea) but said that the suspension of sanctions against Libya in 1999 made it easier for it to acquire dual use technologies. The report says, “Tripoli still appeared to be working toward an offensive CW (chemical warfare) capability and eventual indigenous production.”

“Evidence suggested that Libya also sought dual-use capabilities that could be used to develop and produce BW (biological warfare) agents,” it said.

Libya, which signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has a Soviet supplied research reactor at Tajura that is under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

The November report says, “In addition, Libya participated in various technical exchanges through which it could have tried to obtain dual-use equipment and technology that could have enhanced its overall technical capabilities in the nuclear area,” it said.

However, A US official on Friday said Libya has acknowledged working with North Korea to develop Scud missiles and said its nuclear programme was further along than previously believed, adding that Libya has acknowledged a chemical weapons programme and an interest in acquiring biological weapons equipment. In a separate statement on the same day, a British official said that Libya was close to making a nuclear bomb and had significant quantities of chemical agents before it reached a weapons abandonment deal on Friday. This was supported by a statement from diplomats on Friday, saying that the IAEA had been concerned that Tripoli wanted to develop atomic capability. However, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a news conference that Libya has agreed to “immediately” sign an additional IAEA protocol allowing for more intrusive weapons inspections.

Thus, Libya’s Friday announcement to renounce its weapons of mass destruction paves the way for a new phase in Tripoli’s relations with the international community. US President George W Bush said on Friday that “Libya has begun the process of rejoining the community of nations ... [Libya] should carry out the commitments announced today ... and also fully engage in the war against terror.” On the same day, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw hailed Colonel Gaadafi’s decision as “courageous and statesmanship like”, while NATO spokesman, Jamie Shea, also applauded the recent decision. Meanwhile, a senior US official concluded that although Libya’s announcement was a move “in the right direction” it was still too early to say whether the United States would lift sanctions against the Gaddafi government.

In a separate statement, Tripoli rejected as “utterly baseless” accusations that it has financed a recent coup in Mauritania. —Agencies

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