Global Security Newswire

Libyan Prime Minister Shukri Ghanim said yesterday that he wants to “accelerate to the maximum” the dismantling of his country’s WMD programs so that the United States will drop its long-standing economic sanctions, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Dec. 31).

Ghanim said that Libya is hoping the United States responds to the dismantling of WMD programs by quickly lifting the penalties to allow U.S. oil companies to return to Libya and to permit Libya to access about $1 billion in frozen assets, the Times reported.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said that he could not comment on Ghanim’s comments, but he cited statements from Bush last month in which the president said Libya’s recent actions opened the possibility to improving relations.

“We have indicated to the Libyans that we are prepared to talk about the remaining bilateral sanctions that apply,” the spokesman said.

While all parties are apparently anxious to proceed with dismantling Libya’s WMD programs, an apparent disagreement has emerged over which nations or institutions will implement and monitor the process.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei proclaimed his agency’s primacy in addressing Libya’s nuclear activities, but a senior Bush administration said U.S. and British would take charge.

The official called ElBaradei’s visit to Tripoli this week a “badly advised” public relations move that interfered with U.S. and British intelligence services.

“We want to have more conversations in private with the Libyans before doing anything in public,” the official said.

“ElBaradei has got a miniscule percentage of the knowledge,” about Libya’s complete WMD activities, the official said, and he does have “a role, but only with the technical aspects” of confirming Libya’s nuclear activities. Similarly, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will monitor chemical weapon destruction activities, according to the Times.

The dismantlement of Libya’s weapon programs will be implemented by a number of U.S. agencies, according to the official. “Our teams of people from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Department of Energy and the national labs are going to help the Libyans do the bulk of the work,” the official said (Patrick Tyler, New York Times, Jan. 2).

U.S. officials believe that Libya agreed to abandon its programs after a German freighter was found to be carrying illicit material to Tripoli. The ship was traveling from Dubai to Libya, but shortly after it passed through the Suez Canal it was intercepted and redirected to Taranto in southern Italy.

The move was greeted as a success for the Proliferation Security Initiative, the U.S.-led, 11-nation effort to interdict WMD-related cargo.

“It is clearly a success for the proliferation initiative, but it is also an allied success, especially for the Germans and Italians,” a U.S. official said (Gary Younge, London Guardian, Jan. 2).

U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, meanwhile, was scheduled to fly to London yesterday to plan a strategy with British officials on holding Libya to its commitment to dispose of its WMD programs (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 31).