Libya to destroy chemical weapons from Friday
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-27 08:46

Libya will start destroying its chemical weapons on Friday as the small Arab state tries to win back the confidence of the United States and Europe after agreeing to pay damages over the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing.

The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said on Thursday that Libya would start destroying 3,300 unfilled bombs on February 27.

OPCW inspectors will monitor the destruction which is planned to last until March 5.

The United States on Thursday lifted a travel ban on Libya and will allow some U.S. firms to negotiate deals in the oil-rich country as it welcomed its progress on getting rid of illicit weapons.

The OPCW said the unfilled bombs had been intended for delivering chemical weapons. An inspection team has arrived in Libya and will carry out an inventory of all munitions prior to the "irreversible" destruction.

By March 5, the OPCW will receive the remainder of a list from Libya and will then organize the destruction of all remaining chemical weapons and related facilities.

"This is a very positive step and a confirmation of Libya's intention to actually get rid of prohibited weapons, OPCW Director-General of the Technical Secretariat, Rogelio Pfirter, said in a statement.

"In a wider sense, one must see today's events as a confirmation of the validity and importance of multilateralism in the field of disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," he added.

The Chemical Weapons Convention was opened in January 1993 for states that agreed to abandon these weapons. A total of 160 states have signed so far. The convention was closed to new signatories in 1997, but Libya has asked the United Nations whether it may also sign.

SIGNIFICANT STEPS

The White House said on Thursday that the country led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had taken significant steps but more needed to be done.

"Over the course of the last two months, Libya has taken significant steps in implementing its commitment to disclose and dismantle all weapons of mass destructions programs," the White House said.

The United States said "more remains to be done" but it praised Libya's actions as "serious, credible and consistent" with Gaddafi's pledges.

On Tuesday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday it was ready to assist Libya, which has promised to abandon plans to develop atomic weapons, expand its peaceful nuclear program.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Libya had agreed to the dismantling of a sensitive uranium conversion plant and, as a goodwill gesture, to convert a research reactor from weapons-grade highly enriched uranium to one using low-enriched fuel.

Lifting the travel ban will allow U.S. oil companies to travel to Tripoli to negotiate deals for the day that U.S. trade sanctions are lifted.

Libya is eager to bring U.S. companies back, especially in the oil industry, its main source of foreign earnings.

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