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| Africa: North |
| Weapons Experts Setting Up Bases in Libya |
| 2004-01-20 |
| Teams from the United Nations, the United States and Britain are secretly setting up bases in Libya for the purpose of scrapping Tripoli’s weapons of mass destruction, diplomats said Tuesday. "Don’t tell anyone." The diplomats said on condition of anonymity that U.S. and British weapons experts - including specialists on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons - began arriving this past weekend. They also said members of a separate team from the International Atomic Energy Agency - the U.N. nuclear watchdog - were gathering in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. They have their agenda, and we have ours. "The idea is to move quickly," one of the diplomats said, speaking specifically of plans to dismantle Libya’s nuclear program. "Those involved expect to be well on the way to accomplishing our goal within weeks." We’ll be done before IAEA finishes their coffee. IAEA officials refused to confirm the start of the mission. "Huh?" In London, Britain’s Foreign Office said the country was "prepared to offer assistance with the dismantlement of Libya’s program" but declined to say whether British experts were in the North African nation. "I can say no more." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday confirmed that a team of US experts is now on the ground in Libya, working to verify Tripoli's vow to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction. "We do have people on the ground now working with the Libyans," Powell told reporters at a State Department news conference with visiting Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha. He said the team was headed by Donald Mahley, the State Department's special negotiator for chemical and biological arms control issues, and that he expected to see quick results on verification. "I think things will start to happen rather quickly," Powell said, adding however that he could not provide a timeline on when the process might be complete "until the work is done on the ground." Moving fast, I'm more interested in the paper trail of where Libya got it's nuclear supplies than what they have. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-1-20 2:48:25 PM |
| #1 the IAEA will be forced for credibilities' sake to proceed expeditiously or they'll end up cataloguing things the Merkins and Brits already uncovered |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-1-20 12:54:32 PM |