Libya culls WMD arms trade

2004-05-14 10:43

Washington - Libya will halt military trade with North Korea, Syria and Iran in a move that the Bush administration said on Thursday would help stem the spread of dangerous weapons and technology.

The decision, announced by US under-secretary of state John Bolton and the Libyan government, follows a promise by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to cease programmes for developing weapons of mass destruction.

That pledge has gained him some relief from decades of diplomatic isolation. But on a trip to Europe two weeks ago Gaddafi threatened to return to the "days of explosive belts" if provoked by Western "evil".

Asked if that was alarming despite Gaddafi's decision on weapons, a senior administration official said the United States had made it clear that Libya had to sever ties with terrorism and end its weapons programmes.

Bolton said North Korea had provided Libya with Scud missiles, using the proceeds to develop nuclear weapons. Negotiations are under way in Beijing to try to end those programmes.

North Korea is the world's greatest proliferator of ballistic missile technology and its sale of Scud missiles to Libya "was a pretty substantial money earner" for the communist country, Bolton said.

Bolton said Libya would promise soon to renounce trade in missile and missile-related equipment with countries that do not subscribe to voluntary international limits on the range of missiles and the weight of their payloads.

We are satisfied

"We are satisfied with the progress we have made" with Libya on weapons systems, Bolton said. But he said some aspects of the North African country's chemical weapons programme still need to be eliminated and its retention of some Scud missiles remained an issue.

In Tripoli, the Libyan foreign ministry formally announced "it will not deal with any products or military services with countries it considers as a source for weapons of mass destruction".

Last month President George W Bush permitted resumption of oil imports from Libya and most commercial and financial activities as a reward to Gaddafi for eliminating his most destructive weapons.

But Libya is still not eligible for US assistance nor can it purchase US weapons because the state department continues to brand Libya as a sponsor of terrorism.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the private Arms Control Association, said the latest announcement "reinforces Libya's earlier renunciation" of weapons of mass destruction.

As a result, Kimball said, "they don't have anything more to import" from North Korea.

Meanwhile, Libya is retaining a small force of Scud missiles, with the consent of the US government, Kimball said.

Disagreeing, the senior US official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the administration was concerned with Libya's retention of shorter-range missiles and whether it was destroying all its chemical weapons.

Last year, Libya cleared another hurdle to relations with the United States when it accepted responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 over Scotland and promised to pay $10m in compensation to the families of each of the 270 victims.

- AP