It is just a matter of if Mo would use it first on the uprising, or if the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb get their eager hands on it now:
WASHINGTON—The government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi hasn’t destroyed significant stockpiles of mustard gas and other chemical-weapons agents, raising fears in Washington about what could happen to them—and whether they may be used—as Libya slides further into chaos.
Tripoli also maintains control of aging Scud B missiles, U.S. officials said, as well as 1,000 metric tons of uranium yellowcake and vast amounts of conventional weapons that Col. Gadhafi has channeled in the past to militants operating in countries like Sudan and Chad.
Current and former U.S. officials said in interviews that Washington’s counterproliferation operations against Libya over the past decade have scored gains, in particular the dismantling of Tripoli’s nascent nuclear-weapons program and its Scud C missile stockpiles. But the level of instability in Libya, and Col. Gadhafi’s history of brutality, continues to make the U.S. focus on the arms and chemical agents that remain, they said.
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The George W. Bush administration reached a key agreement with Tripoli in 2003 that called for Libya to scrap its weapons of mass destruction programs in return for normalized diplomatic relations. The deal followed the toppling of Saddam Hussein and was viewed as a major victory in the push to rid the Middle East of advanced weapons.
Within months of the pact, Col. Gadhafi’s government sent to the U.S. the critical infrastructure for its nuclear-weapons programs, including uranium hexafluoride stockpiles, centrifuge machines and parts for a nuclear fuel-conversion facility. Libya also destroyed its longer-range missiles and 3,300 aerial munitions used to disperse mustard gas and other chemical agents. In 2004 Tripoli joined the international Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW.
But the program to eradicate Libya’s chemical agents, as well as its chemical weapons production facility, was delayed by spats between Washington and Tripoli over funding and logistics, according to U.S. officials.
Libya initially said the U.S. could convert a weapons facility outside Tripoli into a pharmaceutical factory, but then demanded an Italian firm do the work, extending the process. Libya also was reluctant to provide U.S. and British officials visas to monitor the process and cited environmental concerns for the slowed process.
Libya was to have destroyed all 23 metric tons of its mustard gas by the end of last year, according to the OPCW, but 9.5 metric tons remain. The Hague-based body said Libya was granted an extension until May to destroy the rest.
Libya also possesses more than half of the 1,300 metric tons of precursor chemicals used for developing chemical agents. The material is believed to be stored in jugs at the former Rabta chemical-weapons facility.
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Scud B missiles also remain in Libya. Under Col. Gadhafi’s initial agreement with Washington, Libya agreed it would destroy these weapons only after the U.S. helped Tripoli upgrade its defenses through the purchasing of other weapons systems. Libya said Washington never made good on its pledge, according to the U.S. officials involved in the discussions.
Libya is also believed to have significant stockpiles of conventional weapons, such as Kaleshnikov rifles and land mines. In addition to supporting Palestinian militant groups in recent decades, Col. Gadhafi has also been charged with shipping arms and funds to militant groups and guerrilla arms operating across Africa.
In 2008, the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli voiced particular concerns that Col. Gadhafi was seeking to import 130,000 of automatic rifles from a British company, according to a diplomatic cable obtained by the website WikiLeaks. The U.S. was particularly concerned because Libya was vague on the end-user for the weapons.
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Gaddafi: Barakeh Obama is friend (Published: 04.17.10)
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi considers the US president a blessing to the Muslim world. In a speech published in London-based al-Hayat newspaper on Saturday, Gaddafi praised Barack Obama, called him a “friend” and said there is no longer any dispute between his country and the US.
Speaking in the Libyan city of Sirt at an event marking the 24th anniversary of an American attack on Libya, he said, “At the time, we were the target of the American cannon, the American navy challenged us in the gulf of Sirt and attacked us all along Libya’s shores. America tested Libya, and the Libyan people resisted the large country, but today, thank God, the difference is great.”
He said, “Now, ruling America is a black man from our continent, an African from Arab descent, from Muslim descent, and this is something we never imagined – that from Reagan we would get to Barakeh Obama.”
Gaddafi stressed that Obama’s presidency is “a major historical gain” and said, “He is someone I consider a friend. He knows he is a son of Africa. Regardless of his African belonging, he is of Arab Sudanese descent, or of Muslim descent. He is a man whose policy should be supported, and he should be assisted in implementing it in any way possible, since he is now leaning towards peace.”
He continued, “I urge all peoples to give him this chance and to support this policy, because America is a country that, when its policy is bad – harms the world, and when it is good – it helps the world.”
The Libyan leader also expressed hopes that, “the dream that Obama has for a world free of nuclear weapons will come true. This is something that no previous American president has proposed. Obama is a man who opposes wars that previous American presidents were entangled in; he has declared that he will withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq – something which has never been proposed before.”
Despite the warm sentiments towards the American leader, he stressed, “The Arabs hate America, there is no doubt. There is not an Arab that loves America, and even the leaders who the United States considers allies or friends – hate it. The external love is merely hypocrisy or pragmatism. The reason for this is clear – Palestine.” […]
Sweet x2 …
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