'Follow Libya's lead'
2003-12-23 09:21
Washington - Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi has told CNN that his government had taken "corrective" action in renouncing weapons of mass destruction.
He said nations such as North Korea, Iran and Syria, suspected of having nuclear arms, should follow its lead.
"In my opinion I should believe that they should follow the steps of Libya, take an example from Libya, so that they prevent any tragedy being inflicted upon their own people," Ghadafi said in an exclusive interview with CNN.
Ghadafi reasoned that such a step would "tighten the noose around the Israelis, so they would expose their programmes of" weapons of mass destruction.
Libya on Friday took the world by surprise admitting after years of denial that it had weapons of mass destruction and vowing to renounce them.
Ghadafi, however, told CNN that Libya did not posess nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
"We have not these weapons," he told CNN's Andrea Koppel.
'Free will'
The programmes to be dismantled, Ghadafi said, "would have been for peaceful purposes - but nevertheless we decided to get rid of them completely."
In its official statement, Libya on Friday said it had "formally decided of its own free will to renounce all these substances, equipment and programmes, to become a country free of weapons of mass destruction."
US officials on Saturday said that during secret visits to Libya in October, US intelligence agents found a more advanced uranium enrichment programme than publicly disclosed but no evidence of actual production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Asked if US sanctions had impacted his decision to renounce weapons of mass destruction, Ghadafi replied: "The important thing is what we have done. It is the correct - corrective action.
He said the idea was "to improve relations between our respective countries," adding that he expected co-operation in "the technology industry" and in acquiring industrial equipment.
"We wish American companies and these rich companies to co-operate with us and use them together for peaceful purposes," the Libyan leader said.
The US government banned the import of Libyan crude oil in 1982 and in the following years imposed extra trade, export and investment bans. More sanctions were imposed in 1986 for Libya's alleged support for terrorism, including a total import-export ban, and expanded economic and travel embargos.
Blacklist
Libya is also on a US blacklist as one of seven states accused of supporting terrorism.
Libya's surprise announcement last week came days after US troops captured former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
But Ghadafi said images of a bedraggled and bearded Saddam shown after he was found in an underground bolthole only served to create sympathy for the ousted dictator.
"By the way he was shown, the way he appeared, meant everybody sympathising with him," Kadhafi said.
Ghadafi denied Saddam's fall had anything to do with the timing of his decision.