The Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi possessed a secret stash of chemical weapons that it had not declared, the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons has stated. Gaddafi had mustard gas shells which he had not declared as a member of the OPCW, the organisation said on Friday.A team of OPCW inspectors had visited Libya this week to check a previously undisclosed stock of weapons discovered by the country's current rulers, the National Transitional Council.
"At the request of the Libyan authorities the inspectors examined munitions, mainly artillery shells, which they determined are chemical munitions and hence declarable," the OPCW said.
The shells were currently stocked at the Ruwagha depot in southeastern Libya, along with quantities of sulphur mustard and other chemicals that had been declared by the Gaddafi government but not yet destroyed, it said.
"Libya must now submit a detailed plan and completion date for destroying all of the declared materials to the OPCW not later than 29 April 2012, the date of the final extended deadline," it added