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<p>The United States intercepted an illegal shipment of thousands of parts of uranium-enrichment equipment bound for Libya in October, leading to Tripoli agreeing to cap its weapons program, U.S. officials confirmed yesterday.</p> <p>Senior State Department official John R. Bolton plans to fly to London today to make plans with Britain for holding Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to his pledge to dismantle his nuclear-weapons program.</p>

U.S. and British intelligence in late September discovered a secret shipment bound for Libya that contained thousands of parts for centrifuges, a key component for producing nuclear weapons, senior U.S. officials said Wednesday. Officials said the interception of the cargo was a critical factor in squeezing Libya to give up its deadliest weapons programs. The shipment was headed from a Persian Gulf port aboard a German ship. With help from the German government and the German shipping company, the United States was able to get the freighter BBC China diverted to a southern Italian port in early October, when it...

While many analysts are crediting the U.S.'s capture of Saddam Hussein for the decision by Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi to change his ways, it was actually the discovery by U.S. intelligence of a cache of Libya's WMDs that convinced the duplicitous dictator that the jig was up. According to Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, "One thing that pushed Gadhafi over the top in making this deal was that we intercepted a ship on the high seas sometime in the summer or early fall that had weapons of mass destruction components being shipped to Libya." Kristol told Fox News Sunday that...

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. 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...

 U.S. may down aircraft thought to carry WMD Takao Hishinuma / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent The U.S. government is considering shooting down any aircraft suspected of transporting weapons of mass destruction as a last resort under the United States' proposed Proliferation Security Initiative, U.S. government sources said Wednesday. The sources said planes could be shot down if they refuse to land and be searched under the proposed international initiative aimed at preventing proliferation of WMD by North Korea and Iran. The consideration of the use of force indicates the determination of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, which considers...

Secret U.S. Trips to Libya Led to Weapons Pledge 2 hours, 18 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secret trips by American intelligence officers, late night meetings with Muammar Gaddafi (news - web sites) and disclosures that the United States knew about Libya's arms programs led to Tripoli's pledge to give up its unconventional weapons, senior intelligence officials said on Saturday. A team of American and British intelligence officers flew to Libya clandestinely in October and December for stretches of about two weeks, visiting sites where they were shown parts...

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...

Bush's WMD Interception Initiative 'Accelerating' By Patrick Goodenough CNSNews.com Pacific Rim Bureau Chief December 18, 2003 Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - President Bush's initiative aimed at intercepting and seizing non-conventional weapons in transit is steadily winning more international support, with another five countries in Asia and the West joining the original line-up of 11. Two days of talks on the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) in Washington ended with participating nations agreeing to hold six more joint exercises during the first half of next year. Joining the 11-nation core group at the "operational experts" meeting were Turkey, Singapore, Canada, Denmark and...

RUSSIA has hurt efforts to stop North Korea's trade in weapons of mass destruction and missile technology by rejecting a global plan to intercept suspect cargoes. But 50 other countries have added their support to the 11-nation US-led Proliferation Security Initiative following a flurry of diplomatic activity by Australia and other member countries in the past month. The PSI was founded by US President George W.Bush in May to stop weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists. Its first maritime interception exercise was held off the Queensland coast in September, drawing claims from North Korea that it...

SEOUL, Sept 14 (AFP) - North Korea on Saturday condemned US-led exercises aimed at stemming the trade in weapons of mass destruction as a "blatant military provocation". The United States, Japan, Australia and France took part in the simulated pursuit and boarding of a vessel carrying illicit weapons in the Coral Sea off Australia's east coast this weekend. The manoeuvre has been interpreted as a veiled warning to North Korea, which is believed to make about a billion dollars a year in arms trading to prop up its collapsed economy. "Such moves of the United States are blatant military provocations...

Allies Show Off Maritime Security Skills Sunday September 14, 2003 1:09 AM By MIKE CORDER Associated Press Writer ON BOARD HMAS SUCCESS (AP) - Japanese coast guardsmen slid down ropes from a helicopter to a cargo ship Saturday, during a high seas exercise showing rogue nations that the world is serious about preventing the transport of weapons of mass destruction. The maneuvers on the Coral Sea allowed the United States, Japan and Australia to fine tune moves to intercept ships suspected of carrying the deadly armaments. The exercises served as a special warning to North Korea and Iran because of...

<p>WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The United States, Australia, Japan and France will send ships to the western Pacific next week for an exercise simulating an interception of weapons.</p> <p>According to a report in Asia Times, some 11 industrialized nations decided last week in Paris to step up plans to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction. While the Proliferation Security Initiative group is not specifically aimed at North Korea, there is no doubt that Pyongyang, which Washington and others accuse of making clandestine shipments of drugs, counterfeit cash and missiles, is the primary target.</p>

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - The first international air and naval exercise in a U.S.-led plan to stamp out global trade in weapons of mass destruction began Saturday off Australia's northeast coast, as North Korea branded the drill a "military provocation." The 11-nation operation, dubbed Exercise Pacific Protector, is the first by the signatories to the Proliferation Security Initiative proposed by President Bush in May to stop illegal weapons shipments by air, land or sea. About 800 military and security personnel - as well as aircraft and ships - from Australia, the United States, Japan and France are involved in the...

Exercise Focuses on WMD Traffickers By Donna Miles American Forces Information Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2003 -- A Japanese-flagged commercial merchant vessel is suspected of carrying items related to weapons of mass destruction. Military and law enforcement assets from Australia, France, Japan and the United States trail the vessel. The Japan coast guard, working with its French, U.S. and Australian law enforcement counterparts, boards the vessel on the high seas and conducts a search. This is the scenario for Pacific Protector, a three-day exercise now under way in international waters off northeastern Australia. The exercise, which began Sept. 12...

Exercise Aimed at Intercepting the North`s WMD Takes Place on Sep. 13 and 14 SEPTEMBER 05, 2003 23:24 by Jei-Gyoon Park (phark@donga.com) The first joint maritime exercise which aims to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction will be staged on September 13 and 14 in the Coral Sea off Australia`s northeast coast. The United States and 10 nations that participate in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) that U.S. President George W. Bush initiated reached an agreement on the exercise after two days of their third round of talks Wednesday and Thursday in Paris, France. The exercise, however, will...