Probe into Libya's nukes begins

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited Libyan nuclear sites and started technical talks here Sunday, a week after Tripoli announced it was giving up weapons of mass destruction, IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said.

IAEA experts visited "a couple" of sites, he told reporters, without specifying the locations. Earlier, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the UN nuclear watchdog, and his team who arrived Saturday for a three-day visit, met Matouk Mohamed Matouk, deputy premier and head of the Libyan nuclear programme.

But there was no indication of what was said during their meeting and no details of the closed-door talks filtered out. The two sides were to dine together later the same day.

The IAEA was expected to start its site visits at the Tajura experimental reactor, 15 kilometres (10 miles) southeast of Tripoli. The Tajura site has been under IAEA supervision since 1980 and "is the heart of the Libyan nuclear programme," according to a Western diplomat.

The IAEA was to have given an impromptu press conference for the international media at 6 pm (1600 GMT) in their hotel, but it was called off for what the foreign ministry called "security reasons".

Tripoli had given assurances before the IAEA mission that the visit would take place with good access for the media but reporters have so far had little contact with the IAEA team or Libyan officials.

On Monday, ElBaradei is to have talks with Prime Minister Shukri Mohammed Ghanem, the IAEA spokesman said. That meeting would be followed by "another rendezvous" which observers said might be an audience with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

The IAEA chief was to return to his Vienna headquarters later Monday, Gwozdecky said. On his arrival in the Libyan capital, ElBaradei said indications were that Tripoli's nuclear programme was only at the pilot stage, but that full verification still needed to be done.

The UN delegation was met by Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelrahman Shalgam, who vowed to cooperate fully with the UN nuclear watchdog. "Libya will cooperate with the agency with complete transparency and sign the additional protocol to the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty)," Shalgam said.

The protocol is the principal means by which the international community keeps its eye on countries which may be trying to build an atomic bomb. For his part, ElBaradei said he was working under the assumption that Libya would sign the additional protocol, adding that it appeared as if Libya had developed some uranium enrichment capabilities.

ElBaradei said he would submit a report to the IAEA board of governors in March. His trip comes after Colonel Kadhafi made the surprise December 20 announcement that his country was giving up the search for chemical, biological and nuclear arms.

Libya's announcement and ElBaradei's visit are the fruit of nine months of secret negotiations between Libya and diplomats from Britain and the United States which ended with Tripoli's dramatic pledge on December 19. ElBaradei said his trip was intended to "take stock of the situation to develop a comprehensive picture of all nuclear activities in Libya and to take whatever corrective actions that need to be taken."

He said the IAEA was aware that Libya had imported nuclear equipment and material "that should have been declared to us. There is a question of how much Libya has complied with its verification obligations." And ElBaradei said he would discuss with the IAEA board to what extent Libya had fallen short of commitments to the NPT, which came into effect in 1970.

Libya signed the NPT in 1969 and ratified it in 1975. Libyan officials had told the agency that their nuclear programme "was at an initial stage and that no production facilities were developed nor has there been any enrichment of uranium," ElBaradei added.

Libya was under international sanctions for years over the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie that killed 270 people.

But the United Nations lifted its embargo in September after Tripoli agreed to pay 2.7 billion dollars (2.2 billion euros) in compensation and accept responsibility for the bombing but denied guilt. US sanctions remain in place.

Tripoli, December 28, 2003 Robert Koch (AFP)