|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Libya Signs Additional Protocol to IAEA Agreement By Joe Fiorill VIENNA — Libya today signed the Additional Protocol to its International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement, punctuating the country’s rapid emergence in recent months from years of international isolation as a suspected WMD proliferator and supporter of terrorist groups. Libyan Science Minister Matouq Mohamed Matouq and IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei signed the protocol at a ceremony here after the agency’s Board of Governors earlier approved the document. Last December, Libya announced it would give up its WMD programs and open nuclear and other facilities up to international inspections. The decision has been followed by a series of IAEA and U.S. inspection visits to the country and the transfer to the United States of much of the most sensitive Libyan nuclear material, under IAEA seal. Also today, the board passed a resolution welcoming Libya’s recent cooperation but noting its past violations. In what diplomats called a “pro forma” measure, the resolution reports Libya’s case to the U.N. Security Council. Diplomats said no action will be taken against the country for its past missteps. The Additional Protocol, which Libya must still ratify, will allow the agency to conduct more intrusive monitoring of the country’s nuclear facilities. “This is yet another indication of Libya’s commitment to move away from weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear programs,” ElBaradei said after the ceremony. He expressed hope that the signing can be “a first step” toward a WMD-free Africa and Middle East. The Libyan minister said his country will remain free of weapons of mass destruction and will exercise its right to use peaceful nuclear technologies.
| ||||||||||
Back to top
