U.S. find led to Gadhafi decision

Washington Times ^ | Thursday, January 1, 2004 | By Barry Schweid

[M Kehoe]

I'd love to see the classified AAR.

I'm sure it would be as good as one of your chapters.

Happy new year.

5.56mm

[longjack]

I posted this earlier today on another thread:

Please excuse the double posting, but the article seems to be appropriate here, and "Spiegel" has edited it in the mean time as they often do with breaking stories.

---

Aktuell

ATOM-TRANSPORT

German Freighter To Have Been Bringing Uranium-Equipment to Libya

Libya's announcement to stop development of nuclear weapons was preceded by a large-scale secret operation: American services had stopped, with German and Italian help,  a German freighter which shall have been taking thousands of components for uranium enrichment to Tripoli. The ship had already traversed the Suez Canal.

REUTERS

Libya's Head of State al-Gaddafi: Has sworn off atomic development

Washington: A spokesman for the U.S. State Department confirmed a corresponding report with these details in the "Wall Street Journal" on Wednesday. The paper reported, referring to government sources, the material had been on a German freighter underway from a gulf state port to Libya when it was seized in October.

"On the basis of secret service information, a ship was stopped which was transporting parts for centrifuges (for uranium enrichment) ", the spokesperson said. Neither he nor the government sources gave any details as to who had sold the equipment to Libya.

Thousands of centrifuge parts shall have been found on the ship. American and British Intelligence services had found out in September, says the "Wall Street Journal" that the freighter named "BBC China" had taken the provocative cargo on board in the Persian Gulf and was supposed to bring it to Libya.

"Spiegel"edited the above paragraph later, to include:

The shipping company BBC Charter and Logistics from Leer ordered the captain, who had just traversed the Suez Canal, to put in at an Italian port. The 121 meter long ship which was built in 2000, and sails under the Antigua flag, was shadowed and had the cargo searched by a U.S. warship there. The shipping company was very cooperative 

With that, they contacted German authorities, who, in turn, contacted the ship's owner. The shipping company ordered the captain, who had just sailed through the Suez Canal, to put in at an Italian port. The ship was shadowed by U.S.warship there, and the cargo was searched. The North-African country had surprisingly recently announced it would stop its program for the development of nuclear weapons and would allow far-reaching international controls. Enriched uranium can be used for the production of nuclear weapons.

The government spokesman didn't draw any direct connection between the seizure and the later proclamation by the country, describing the stopping of the delivery to Libya as a "significant and important development" on the way to the withdrawal of the country from its nuclear weapon development. Negotiations concerning the country's atomic program had already been taking place for months between Libya and the USA, as well as Great Britain, he said. The newspaper had reported, referring to government sources, that Libya only opened its atom facilities to the USA and Great Britain only after the discovery of the delivery.

 © SPIEGEL ONLINE 2004

"Spiegel-Online"....Deutscher Frachter sollte Uran-Ausrüstung nach Libyen bringen

Translated by longjack

[PGalt]

Thanks for the post JohnHuang2 and Happy New Year to you.

The fact that the ship was headed there is very telling. Terrorists, like most criminals, never stop until they are incarcerated or executed.

Gadhafi, Hussein and Arafat would make a great Execution Trifecta.

[JohnHuang2]

You're welcome and Happy New Year to you, too, friend

[Lazamataz]

Findled?

[Lazamataz]

HA! I thought the same thing, and then finally figures it out. It's a typo...should read U.S. find led".

I prefer the scenario where 'findled' is this really cool new word meaning "to recognize something hidden and cause the hiding party to change course of action".

[Lazamataz]

How come every picture of Kaddafi recently has him looking more and more like a bitchy drag queen?

Queer Eye for the Dictator Guy?

[TexasCajun]

What's this I read?

You mean to tell me that the United Nations Security Council isn't responsible for this victory in the War on Terrorism?

[JohnHuang2]

A Metrosexual dude?

Happy New Year, Laz :-)

[TexasCajun]

...being delivered to Libya on a German-owned freighter

It isn't too difficult to understand Germany's reluctance to join the international coalition to remove Hussein & Co. from Iraq.

Why is Bush holding back on providing documented evidence that Germany, as well as France, were doing everything possible to help this murdering dictator? ...oh, and don't forget about U.N. Security Council member Syria, sending weapons to Iraq right up until we invaded.

[Miss Marple]

LOL!

[Lazamataz]

And a Happy New Year to you too!

(I almost wrote Jappy. Jappy New Year??? Not only would have been racially insensitive, it wouldn't have made any sense.)

[Lazamataz]

Jappy New Year!!!

[JohnHuang2]

hehe!

[Sam's Army]

WMD expert Scott Ritter was quoted as saying: "There is no evidence of a Libyan WMD program, this is just further posturing by the Bush administration to take attention away from the feeble US economy."

[JohnHuang2]

Presented with Gadhafi's open admission, Ritter went on to accuse the Bush administration of deliberately planting the incriminating WMD evidence to humiliate poor Gadhafi and divert attention from the failure to find WMD in Iraq ;-)

[Aeronaut]

Happy New Year John. I missed 'findled' until I read #3. Now I can't stop chuckling...

[cars for sale]

well this is my third attempt to open freepers eyes here but LOOK AT THE TIME LINE (again this is in detail my 3td attemp to get a response).....we have had Kadaffi on the ropes for nine months, Saddam was on the lam for 6 months
and this shipment ( a tip BTW) has pieces parts for
enriched uranium @ Iran and bang bang parts (nukes)
for N. Korea and the good ole USA took it outta the equasion......sooooooooo before the 1st bomb on Saddam
we had Iran and N Korea in a box and who else knew ?

that would be Kadaffi....he watched uday and quese
get "room temperature and saw Saddam in a hole.

the media knew this and the politicians too but lied hourly that we were in a quagmire....
if that ain't treason, it is surely a second cousin.

[JohnHuang2]

Happy New Year backatya, good buddy :-)