Posted on 01/28/2004 8:57:46 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AFP) -
US and British nuclear inspectors were this week to wrap up their first visit to Libya supervising the dismantling of the country's weapons of mass destruction programs, the State Department said.
"We still have some people from the United States and the United Kingdom on the ground in Libya," said spokesman Richard Boucher. "They'll end ... this initial visit ... later this week, and then we will continue to work with Libya to help it dismantle its program the way it's decided to do so."
The UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, also has inspectors in Libya.
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi agreed last month, after nine months of secret talks with Britain and the United States, to end Tripoli's quest for unconventional arms.
The White House on Tuesday announced that Libya had made "real progress" towards disarmament by shipping parts crucial to its quest for nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to a secure US location.
A transport plane carrying some 55,000 pounds (25,000 kilos) of documents and equipment, including centrifuge parts used to enrich uranium and missile guidance sets, landed in Tennessee at 8:37 a.m. Monday, said spokesman Scott McClellan.
"The shipment is now at a secure facility in Tennessee," said McClellan, who added that "the most sensitive" documents tied to Libya's nuclear weapons program had been aboard a similar flight last week.
The material was being stored at the US Department of Energy (news - web sites)'s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was established in Tennessee in 1943 as part of the secret Manhattan project to build the atomic bomb.
Libya's decision to disarm was announced simultaneously by Washington and London.
When President George W. Bush (news - web sites) made the announcement on December 19, recalled Boucher, he promised that Libya's "good faith will be returned.
"And we will, indeed, look at other areas as Libya proceeds to take steps in those areas and the areas of importance to us," he said, adding, "Libya's cooperation has been excellent."
Washington severed diplomatic ties with Tripoli in 1981 and imposed an embargo on Libyan oil in 1986, still in force even though the United Nations (news - web sites) lifted sanctions last year after Tripoli agreed to a compensation deal over the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.