Libya’s international rehabilitation took another step forward at the weekend when a ship carrying the last known remains of its nuclear weapons programme set off for the United States.
US officials said the 500-ton cargo included centrifuge parts used to enrich uranium, and equipment from the former uranium conversion facility.
”It contained all the known remaining equipment associated with Libya’s nuclear weapons programme … It’s coming to the US. We’re not saying where for security reasons,” said Sean McCormack, a White House spokesperson.
Earlier shipments of Libyan nuclear-related equipment were taken to the department of energy’s Oak Ridge laboratory in Tennessee, and are said to have been destroyed.
The ship is also carrying all of Libya’s longer-range missiles, including five Scuds, their launchers and all related equipment.
This week Libya is expected to sign an agreement accepting rigorous weapons inspection procedures, including snap checks by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
American and Libyan officials are also discussing ways of retraining the country’s weapons scientists for peace ful purposes. In a full report to the UN on Libya’s chemical weapons programmes, Tripoli declared a 20-ton stockpile of mustard gas and precursors for nerve gas last Friday.
Colonel Moammar Gadaffi’s decision to give up weapons of mass destruction, announced last December, has brought a step-by-step response from the US towards lifting sanctions.
The Bush administration has already waived restrictions on US citizens visiting Libya, and says that oil companies can begin negotiating to return.
In anticipation of renewed business, Libya named a veteran oil expert, Fethi Omar bin Chetwane, on Saturday as its first energy minister in more than five years.
Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, told Tony Blair on Sunday in talks at Chequers that democratic reform in the Middle East must be homegrown. In an apparent rebuff to a US plan for the region, Mubarak stressed that a strategy must come from Arab nations. ”There is no magic wand that you can use to bring democracy overnight,” said an Egyptian spokesman.
Mubarak hopes that an alternative plan, drawn up by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, will be backed by the Arab League summit this month in Tunisia. – Guardian Unlimited Â