Libya never got nuclear plans off ground-diplomats

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15619952.htm

VIENNA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Preliminary results of inspections of nuclear sites in Libya have confirmed the view of the U.N. nuclear watchdog that Tripoli was nowhere near building a bomb, diplomats said.

The view of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) contrasts sharply with that of some officials in Washington and London who say Libya's atomic weapons programme was far more advanced than the U.N. inspectors believe.

On December 19, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi announced he would allow international inspectors to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programmes. A British official said then that Tripoli "was close to developing" a nuclear bomb.

But diplomats familiar with the IAEA investigation of the scope and nature of Libya's experiments with technology related to nuclear weapons told Reuters this week that Libya's programme never really got off the ground. "It would be an exaggeration to call it a programme," one Western diplomat said.

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[louis-t]

1. So, it's like I've been saying all along...

Qaddafi isn't really giving up anything, he gets the sanctions lifted so now he will have the money to further his nuclear research and give financial support to terra-ists, B*sh gets to go around saying he saved us from another menace and the terra-ists are afraid, and once again a Republican president has allowed a third world dictator to enrich himself and further his despicable goals. All politics, no policy. When are these idiots going to wake up? This will come back to haunt us. I promise.