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Weapon proliferation fears as looters target Libya's armories
Source: Agencies |
September 15, 2011, Thursday
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THE potential proliferation of both conventional and unconventional weapons in Libya after six months of civil war is a "key concern" for the United States, a senior American official said yesterday.
The conflict that ended Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule and sent the former ruler into hiding also threw open the gates to his regime's armories. The country's new leaders, who are struggling to establish a government, have failed to secure many weapons caches. Witnesses have watched looters, former rebel fighters or anyone with a truck carry them away.
US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffery Feltman told reporters in Tripoli that Washington already has people working with Libya's new rulers about the possible proliferation of shoulder-fired missiles, as well as dangerous chemicals such as mustard gas.
"This is certainly an issue we are concerned with, the Libyan officials are concerned with, as it poses potential risks not only to Libyans, but to the region," said Feltman, who was in Tripoli for talks with the former rebels' National Transitional Council.
Journalists and human rights groups have discovered huge weapons depots around Tripoli since the former rebels swept into the capital on August 21. Many sites are poorly guarded and have already been looted of mines, mortars and even shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles designed to bring down airplanes and helicopters.
The greatest concern, however, is the proliferation of unconventional weapons, such as mustard gas and other chemical agents.
Despite worries, Feltman said "to the best of our knowledge" stores of mustard gas "are containerized in bulk form accountable to the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons), and we believe from monitoring that they are where they are supposed to be."
Last week, the UN chief weapons watchdog said Libya's remaining chemical weapon stockpiles are believed to be secure.
Ahmet Uzumcu, director general of the OPCW, said his inspectors will return "when the conditions allow us."
He added that he had heard from sources that the "remaining stockpiles of chemical weapons are secured."
In 2004, Gadhafi agreed to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction
The conflict that ended Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule and sent the former ruler into hiding also threw open the gates to his regime's armories. The country's new leaders, who are struggling to establish a government, have failed to secure many weapons caches. Witnesses have watched looters, former rebel fighters or anyone with a truck carry them away.
US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffery Feltman told reporters in Tripoli that Washington already has people working with Libya's new rulers about the possible proliferation of shoulder-fired missiles, as well as dangerous chemicals such as mustard gas.
"This is certainly an issue we are concerned with, the Libyan officials are concerned with, as it poses potential risks not only to Libyans, but to the region," said Feltman, who was in Tripoli for talks with the former rebels' National Transitional Council.
Journalists and human rights groups have discovered huge weapons depots around Tripoli since the former rebels swept into the capital on August 21. Many sites are poorly guarded and have already been looted of mines, mortars and even shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles designed to bring down airplanes and helicopters.
The greatest concern, however, is the proliferation of unconventional weapons, such as mustard gas and other chemical agents.
Despite worries, Feltman said "to the best of our knowledge" stores of mustard gas "are containerized in bulk form accountable to the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons), and we believe from monitoring that they are where they are supposed to be."
Last week, the UN chief weapons watchdog said Libya's remaining chemical weapon stockpiles are believed to be secure.
Ahmet Uzumcu, director general of the OPCW, said his inspectors will return "when the conditions allow us."
He added that he had heard from sources that the "remaining stockpiles of chemical weapons are secured."
In 2004, Gadhafi agreed to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction
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