(BREAKING NEWS)Libya's Fatal Blow to Axis of Evil (Islamic Regime in Iran IMPLICATED)

Sunday Herald ^ | Dec 21, 2003 | David Pratt and Trevor Royle

[faludeh_shirazi]

.INVESTIGATION.

Gaddafi deal signals end to secret nuclear weapon programme with Iran and North Korea..

By David Pratt, Foreign Editor, and Trevor Royle, Diplomatic Editor

Free Iran at ActivistChat.com!

THE end of the threat posed to world peace and secure oil supplies by the “axis of evil” is emerging this weekend as the real prize that Tony Blair and George Bush have secured for Christmas.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took the decision to renounce all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) on Friday night, but while at first it was thought this only had implications for Libya it is now clear that his decision has scuppered a secret partnership between Libya, Iran and North Korea formed with the intention of developing an independent nuclear weapon.

New documents revealed yesterday show that the three were working on the nuclear weapons programme at a top-secret underground site near the Kufra Oasis of the Sahara in southeastern Libya. The team was made up of North Korean scientists, engineers and technicians, as well as some Iranian and Libyan nuclear scientists.

North Korea and Iran, originally dubbed by Bush as the axis of evil along with Iraq, avoided detection by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) inspectors by each member farming out vital sections of its projects to its fellow members.

Iran, which is now in the final stages of uranium enrichment for its program, is badly hit, having counted on fitting into place key parts of its WMD project made in Libya. North Korea may also be forced to scale back the production of nuclear devices as well as counting the loss of a lucrative source of income for its Scuds and nuclear technology.

Yesterday, Tripoli acted swiftly to prove its commitment to the world at large when the head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, met a senior Libyan official in Vienna to discuss eliminating the programme.

Almost 15 years to the day since Gaddafi’s agents brought down a PanAm jet over Lockerbie and eight months after US and British troops toppled Saddam Hussein, the Libyan leader has now opened the prospect of an end to sanctions and a return of US oil firms.

The news has delighted three American oil companies, Marathon, Amerada Hess, and ConocoPhillips whose Libyan leases were about to expire. They all pulled out of Libya in 1986 after the US imposed strict sanctions against the regime.

Tripoli’s announcement on Friday was the culmination of secret talks with Britain and the US launched around the time of the Iraq invasion. The initial approach to discuss how to bring Libya in from the cold was made by Libya’s chief of intelligence, Musa Qusa, who contacted the British government in March, amid preparations for war on Iraq.

“You could say that these discussions followed on from the Lockerbie contacts,” a spokesman for Blair said yesterday. It was in March that the deal was done by Libya to settle with the families of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103.

Months of secret diplomatic activity followed which led to the clandestine three-week visit to at least 10 sites in Libya. British and US weapons experts who inspected laboratories and military factories in October and early December established that Libyan scientists were “developing a nuclear fuel cycle intended to support nuclear weapons development.” The British team also saw “significant quantities of chemical agent” and “bombs designed to be filled with chemical agent.”

Following the visit, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Blair’s national security adviser, and Condoleezza Rice, Bush’s national security adviser, held intense negotiations with Libyan officials in the days leading up to Friday’s declaration.

Blair had his first-ever telephone conversation with Gaddafi on Thursday, in which they discussed the declaration.

Libya finally transmitted the statement to British officials at about 9pm and, after trans lation and an “assessment” on both sides of the Atlantic, it was released to the press at about 10.15pm.

The breakthrough capped a week of positive developments for London and Washington that began with the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and followed with a pledge from Iran to submit to unfettered inspections of its nuclear industry.

Bush implied in his remarks at the White House on Friday that there would now be reciprocity. “As the Libyan government takes these essential steps and demonstrates its seriousness, its good faith will be returned. Libya can regain a secure and respected place among the nations, and over time, achieve far better relations with the United States.”

Gaddafi’s move also sounds a warning for Israel. If Washington manages to dispose of Iran’s nuclear program and Syria’s unconventional weaponry, attention will focus on Israel as the only remaining Middle Eastern nuclear power.

[nopardons]

BTT

[Proud_texan]

"Now France and Germany and Russia are really out in left field."

Not to mention the UN.

[Big Bad Bob]

One feels that France and Russia as well as the U.N could well find that it's completely in the brown stuff, following this news, say Libya had to get the merchandise from somewhere.

I think these past few days have shown that the British/U.S alliance is an awesome alternative to the neo-soviet pact that is becoming the European Union.

FREE IRAN PING!!!

[MeekOneGOP]

Well, well, well. What happy news !
I guess little tommy daschle is deeply saddened ? ...

Gaddafi deal signals end to secret nuclear weapon
programme with Iran and North Korea..

Excerpt:

THE end of the threat posed to world peace and secure oil supplies by the “axis of evil” is emerging this weekend as the real prize that Tony Blair and George Bush have secured for Christmas.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took the decision to renounce all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) on Friday night, but while at first it was thought this only had implications for Libya it is now clear that his decision has scuppered a secret partnership between Libya, Iran and North Korea formed with the intention of developing an independent nuclear weapon.

New documents revealed yesterday show that the three were working on the nuclear weapons programme at a top-secret underground site near the Kufra Oasis of the Sahara in southeastern Libya. The team was made up of North Korean scientists, engineers and technicians, as well as some Iranian and Libyan nuclear scientists.

North Korea and Iran, originally dubbed by Bush as the axis of evil along with Iraq, avoided detection by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) inspectors by each member farming out vital sections of its projects to its fellow members.

Iran, which is now in the final stages of uranium enrichment for its program, is badly hit, having counted on fitting into place key parts of its WMD project made in Libya. North Korea may also be forced to scale back the production of nuclear devices as well as counting the loss of a lucrative source of income for its Scuds and nuclear technology.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[Aeronaut]

Not a good time to be a democRAT.

[MeekOneGOP]

Great news ! Thanks for the pingaroo !

Anybody wanna buy a T-Shirt ?? No? Then how about a has-been Socialist politician ?? ...

[MeekOneGOP]

Amen to that ! Bush has proved to be right on the money with his "Axis of Evil" declaration !! ...

Absolutely right. I bet that little tommy da$$hole truly is ...

Saddened, deeply saddened . . .

[onyx]

You have a talent for finding the most unflattering pics of our enemies. Keep it up. :)

[LoudRepublicangirl]

My God, our President is awesome! I am proud to say I elected him and I will re-elect him!!!!

[martin_fierro]

Do you know the old saying ; Even a bling pig finds an acorn every now and then.?

To say nothing of the Bling Bling Pig.

[F14 Pilot]

Thanks for the pings~!

[MeekOneGOP]

You have a talent for finding the most unflattering pics of our enemies. Keep it up. :)

Hey, thanks ! Will do.

Most of them I find right here on FR and tuck them away for later ! :O)

[yoe]

The news has delighted three American oil companies, Marathon, Amerada Hess, and ConocoPhillips whose Libyan leases were about to expire...

One can only wonder what other reasons Libya decided to come ‘clean’, the oil leases must be one of them. President Bush said many times during his campaign for president, “we must find alternative fuels...” And so we must, otherwise these countries will continue to hold oil over our heads forever. Push for fuel cell use in cars, homes etc. and synthetic oils are much improved.

[vigilo]

"Bush and Blair bluffed that the plans were all drawn up for Libyan invasion."

Bush, Blair and others DID invade Iraq, why do you think there would not also be plans to invade Libya? I doubt it was a bluff.

[international american]

"I guess little tommy daschle is deeply saddened ? ..."

We will buy him a new pair of platform shoes......

[pepsionice]

What is amusing about this entire 'sudden' story...it was only Tuesday night here in Germany...when one of the biggest German anti-US reporters came on the air with an hour-long show...and he spent five minutes taking down the US accusations about the Iranian nuclear development. He made the entire accusation look like some foolish statement and it held no evidence whatsoever. The German state-run media machine will have to avoid this sudden Libya story and avoid almost all mention of it...otherwise...questions will arise about 'what' nuclear evidence existed. I think alot of Europeans are beginning to grasp that nukes are possibly being already built and can reach Europe....and its not Russian nukes.

[Gritty]

Tripoli’s announcement on Friday was the culmination of secret talks with Britain and the US launched around the time of the Iraq invasion.

Now, what are the Dems whining about concerning Bush's "lack of diplomacy"? This is a diplomatic coup!

As has been pointed out by other posters, Iraq was also involved in this NK/Islamic nuclear scheme and would have had the Bomb right along with the others. The "others" would likely have somehow included Al Qaeda as a dispersing agent.

*shudder*

It appears we may have dodged a very deadly bullet with this amazing triumph!

Not surprisingly, there appears little mention of the real import of this historic turn of events in many of the major news outlets I have checked. Some appear to be masking the story with complaints by Lockerbie family survivors who claim Bush is "making a deal with terror". Pathetic.

[gooleyman]

Osama is a rotted carcass.

-----
We thought Saddam might be a rotted carcass too until last weekend. Perhaps what I should have said was "I hope he is either in the clink or we have verified his rotted carcass by the time of the State of the Union Speech next month."

Is that better? Have a good day.

[Walkingfeather]

bttt

[NutCrackerBoy]

You three questioned my assertion that Libya invasion was a bluff. I know nothing about it (as I intimated), only theorizing. I do not sense that the administration felt it enjoyed the political will to support another invasion.

I just thought there could be an element of bluff in convincing Libya of the imminence of a coalition invasion.