U.S. Takes Possession of Libyan Nuclear Equipment
uploaded 29 Jan 2004WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As part of an agreement to rid Libya of weapons of mass destruction, the United States took possession on Tuesday of 55,000 pounds of equipment and documents from the country's nuclear weapons and missile programs, including centrifuge parts used to enrich uranium.
An American C-17 transport plane loaded with guidance sets for long-range missiles and other sensitive Libyan components arrived on Tuesday morning at an airport outside Knoxville, Tennessee. The contents were then moved to a "secure facility" for analysis.
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Dick Lugar said the nuclear weapons-related equipment would be destroyed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, the U.S. Department of Energy's largest science and energy laboratory.
Libya has already started destroying its unfilled chemical munitions, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
President Bush has seized on Libya's decision to voluntarily dismantle its banned-weapons programs as an example to other nations with nuclear ambitions.
The shipment was disclosed on the same day he faced pointed questions from reporters about his decision to invade Iraq. The top U.S. weapons hunter concluded Baghdad had no stockpiles of biological or chemical weapons -- the administration's main justification for going to war.
Tuesday's shipment from Libya was the second so far. Last week, another plane left Libya carrying the "most sensitive documentation associated with the Libyan nuclear weapons program," McClellan told reporters.
He said the shipment was a sign of "real progress" since Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi pledged on Dec. 19 to abandon efforts to acquire nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in a surprise deal with old adversaries Washington and London after years of negotiation.
Bush has suggested that the Iraq war was a factor in Gaddafi's decision.
"This is an important first step," said Lugar, an Indiana Republican.
McClellan said the transport plane, which landed at McGhee Tyson airport, was carrying "critical materials related to Libya's nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile capabilities."
"These materials include both sensitive documentation and equipment" -- including centrifuge parts used to enrich uranium as well as uranium hexafluoride.
A centrifuge is a rapidly rotating cylinder that can be used to enrich uranium for use as nuclear bomb fuel. Uranium hexafluoride is a gas used in that process.
McClellan said the shipment also contained ballistic missile guidance sets for longer-range missiles which Libya has voluntarily agreed to eliminate.
"While these shipments are only the beginning of the elimination of Libya's weapons, these shipments as well as the close cooperation on the ground in Libya reflect real progress in Libya meeting its commitments," McClellan said.
He said Gaddafi "made a courageous decision to give up his weapons. And through this transparent process, the world can see that Colonel Gaddafi is keeping his commitment."
"As the Libyan government takes these essential steps and demonstrates its seriousness, its good faith will be returned," McClellan added.
Libya's August 2003 admission of responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and its December vow to abandon weapons of mass destruction have set the stage for a possible end to U.S. economic sanctions.
But the United States made clear it was not prepared to take that step, at least not yet. "Obviously, there's more to do," McClellan said. Lifting sanctions would let U.S. oil companies resume work in Libya abandoned when sanctions forced them out in 1986.
Source: Reuters
