Posted on 12/20/2003 4:28:18 PM PST by blam
Revealed: the real reason for Gaddafi's WMD surrender
By Julian Coman and Colin Brown
(Filed: 21/12/2003)
Libya's promise to surrender its weapons of mass destruction was forced by Britain and America's seizure of physical evidence of Col Muammar Gaddafi's illegal weapons programme, the Telegraph can reveal.
United States officials say that America's hand was strengthened in negotiations with Col Gaddafi after a successful operation, previously undisclosed, to intercept transport suspected of carrying banned weapons.
Col Muammar Gaddafi
The operation is said to have been carried out under the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), an international, American-led scheme to halt the spread of WMD by seizing them in transit. The PSI was first mooted by President George W Bush in May but was not officially launched until September.
Last week, a senior official from the US State Department confirmed that the PSI had "netted several seizures", although he refused to give further details.
President Bush and Tony Blair had praised Libya's decision to give up its WMD and allow international inspectors to oversee their destruction.
Mr Bush described it as a "wise and responsible choice" while a statement issued by the Libyan foreign ministry said that the country had agreed "of its own free will" to destroy its unconventional weapons.
The PSI operation, however, added decisively to the pressure already brought to bear on Col Gaddafi by America and Britain as they prepared to attack Iraq in March.
One Cabinet minister said: "It demonstrates that change can be brought about by standing tough. There is no question that this change of heart by Gaddafi was brought about by the fact that the US and Britain were seen to be standing up to and called Saddam Hussein's bluff."
The Travellers Club in Pall Mall, beloved of spy novelists and frequented by senior officers in the intelligence services, was the venue last week for the final breakthrough talks between MI6 and Libyan intelligence officials.
British immigration rules were discreetly changed to allow the Libyans to enter the country on visas. Three Libyan officials met a four-strong British team led by William Ehrman, the director general of defence and intelligence at the Foreign Office, and including two MI6 officers, to agree the text that would be read out on Libyan television on Friday night.
Mr Blair was forced to wait until the Libyan statement had been taken down by the BBC monitoring unit, translated and its contents checked to make sure they tallied with the agreed text before he was given the go-ahead to make his announcement in Durham during the 10pm news broadcasts.
The Government is hoping that the capture of Saddam, the collapse of the European Union constitution talks, and Col Gaddafi's commitment to surrender WMD will boost Mr Blair's standing with his own backbenchers.
"It has been a triple whammy and there is a sense of success at the end of this year," said a Downing Street official. "It is important domestically, but it is also important internationally."
At a PSI conference in Washington last week, Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defence, reminded the 16 member countries - who include France, Germany, Italy and Japan in addition to Britain and America - that the threat to global security extended beyond North Korea and Iran, the focus of recent pressure from Washington over their nuclear programmes.
"While PSI participants agree that North Korea and Iran are of particular concern, we know that our efforts cannot be confined to just any one or two countries alone," Mr Wolfowitz said.
Libya has long been in American sights over its acquisition of WMD. In June, John Bolton, the under-secretary of state for arms control and international security, warned that the regime was exploiting the suspension of United Nations sanctions after the Lockerbie trial.
"Since the sanctions were lifted, Libya has been able to be more aggressive in pursuing weapons of mass destruction. Libyan agents are trying to acquire dual-use technology. That is very worrying," he said.
The Libyan foreign ministry announced yesterday that it had already sent a team to Vienna to begin talks with the International Atomic Energy Authority, the UN nuclear watchdog.
The official Libyan news agency, Jana, last night quoted Col Gaddafi as declaring that his statement on WMD was "a courageous step which deserves the support of the Libyan people".
"Since the sanctions were lifted, Libya has been able to be more aggressive in pursuing weapons of mass destruction. Libyan agents are trying to acquire dual-use technology. That is very worrying," he said.
Well, well. There is a Clinton connection to the Libya thing. Kind of. To wit, "firms in China provided dual-use missile-related items, raw materials, and/or assistance to several other countries of proliferation concern -- such as Iran, Libya, and North Korea."
13 November 2003 "CIA Report Reviews Weapons Proliferation Trends"
http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/uscn/others/2003/111301.htm
Glad we wised up and stopped transferring technology to China, right? Right? Right?!
Oh, and this from the same report, "During the first half of 2003, Libya continued to depend on foreign assistance -- particularly from Serbian, Indian, Iranian, North Korean, and Chinese entities -- for its ballistic missile development programs."
Serbian? Yes. Another website says "The U.S. Embassy's 2002 non-paper claimed the FRY [Former Republic of Yugoslavia] was assisting both Libya and Iraq with their 'long range' missile/rocket programs, sighting the presence of FRY missile specialists in Iraq throughout 2001. Other scientists from Belgrade have developed a plethora of dual-use technologies suitable for a 'poor-man's' cruise missile, and are rumored to have helped Iraqi scientists convert Iraqi MiG-21 and other training vehicles into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)."
Indian? along with Iranian, North Korean, and Chinese entities? Boy, they are enterprising aren't they? Glad we're not transferring technology to India, right? . . . .
I take it they don't have "up or out" in the Libyan military. That guy has been a colonel for over 30 years.
It was bad ENOUGH that the ADULTS were back in control, but now it's...
"Walker, Texas Ranger" in the White House!
(or would that be George Walker Bush, Texas Ranger?)
DFU or SOMEONE needs to work over that theme to the Chuck Norris TV show, change they lyrics to fit Dubya!
N.Korea, Iran and other thirdworld cesspools run by two-bit despots---you can bet they are sitting up and taking notice. The last couple who messed with Bush (Taliban, Baathists) went from living in palaces to living in freaking caves and holes in the ground.
I know! A COLONEL! Doesn't he REALIZE that's a lower rank than others that he could just proclaim himself?
"I demand the sum... OF 1 MILLION DOLLARS."
Then people throughout the world would love us and they would treat us with love and respect.
SARCASM (for the sarcasm challenged)
I've got similar respect for both!
Quote from American Heritage® Dictionary about Syria:
"Islam was introduced in the seventh century by Muslim Arab conquerers. Syria was a province of the Ottoman Empire from 1516 until 1918, and the part comprising present-day Syria and Lebanon became a French League of Nations mandate in 1920.
Separated from Lebanon by the French, Syria achieved full independence in 1946. "
Of course now Lebanon is occupied and controlled by Syria. Funny no one in the ME complains about that...
Being a conspiracy theorist is easy, you never have to be correct because you can always change the theory, and accuse anyone that points out that you are wrong as being part of the conspiracy...
Note to Wesley, you cannot concentrate on a single threat axis at a time. Don't they teach generals anything?
Just excellent work by President Bush and Prime Minister Blair in standing tough!
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