Disarmament of Libya
In 2003, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi agreed to eliminate his country's weapons of mass destruction program, including a decades-old nuclear weapons program.[1] Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Libya's nuclear program was "in the very initial stages of development" at the time.[2]
In 1968, Libya signed the
As of 2013, over 800 tons of chemical weapons ingredients remained to be destroyed.[3] In February 2014, the new Libyan government announced that it had finished destroying Libya's entire remaining Gaddafi-era stockpile of chemical weapons. Full destruction of chemical weapons ingredients was scheduled to be completed by 2016.[4]
Precursor events
According to
In October 2003,
Disarmament
The 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States were denounced by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.[9] Following the U.S. military response in the War in Afghanistan, Gaddafi increasingly sought to normalize relations with the United States, initially focusing on the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Libya. On 19 December 2003, Gaddafi made a surprise announcement of his intention to dismantle Libya's WMD programs.[10][11] The Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials were quoted "Libya had bought nuclear components from various black market dealers", and provided the various designs of centrifuges to U.S. officials and gave the name of its suppliers.
Among the list of suppliers included the revealing role of A.Q. Khan, a notable and famed scientist of Pakistan. Events in Libya led to the debriefing of A.Q. Khan in 2004 by the Government of Pakistan while the United States, aided by IAEA and Interpol, apprehended the former Libyan nuclear program's head and Swiss, Friedrich Tinner in Switzerland. On 22 January 2004, U.S. military transport planes carried around 55,000 pounds (25,000 kg) of documents and equipment related to Libya's nuclear and ballistic missile programs to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. In March 2004, over 1,000 additional centrifuge and missile parts were shipped out of Libya.
At the time of Libya's nuclear disarmament, its nuclear program was in the very initial stages of development.
Aftermath
Libya's decision was praised by many in the
In response, the Libyan government and its supporters stated that Libya returned to the international community, got a temporary
Eventually Gaddafi grew disillusioned with the things that the West offered Libya.[6] He considered it too small of a reward for Libya for giving up its nuclear weapons program.[6] Gaddafi was also dissatisfied at the United States' slowness in normalizing relations with Libya and in pressuring Israel to denuclearize.[6] According to Gaddafi's son Saif, this was one of the main reasons why Gaddafi temporarily suspended shipping Libya's enriched uranium abroad in 2009 like he promised he would in 2003.[6] Gaddafi wanted to use the remains of his nuclear weapons program to gain more leverage.[6]
As of September 2013, 1.6 metric tons of mustard blister agent loaded in artillery rounds, 2.5 metric tons of congealed mustard agent, and 846 metric tons of chemical weapons ingredients remained to be destroyed.[3] According to The New York Times, in February 2014, the remnants of Libya's chemical weapons had been discreetly destroyed by the United States and Libya, using a transportable oven technology to destroy hundreds of bombs and artillery rounds filled with deadly mustard agent.[12]
Libya signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 20 September 2017, but has not yet ratified it.[13]
In May 2018, North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan rejected assertion by U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton's assertion that North Korean denuclearization should follow the Libyan disarmament model.[14]
Arab Spring and NATO intervention
During the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya, Gaddafi tried using Libya's voluntary disarmament to convince NATO to cease its Libya operations.[6] At the same time, Gaddafi's son Saif and others in the Libyan government expressed their regret about Libya's previous disarmament.[6] It was speculated in the media (especially in the Middle Eastern media) that NATO's 2011 intervention in Libya (which led to Gaddafi's overthrow and killing at the hands of anti-Gaddafi forces) would make Iran, North Korea, and possibly other countries more reluctant to give up their nuclear programs and/or nuclear weapons due to the risk of being weakened and/or double-crossed as a result.[6][15]
On 22 September 2011, near
See also
- Disarmament of Iraq
- Nuclear club
- Nuclear nonproliferation
References
- ^ "Libya | Country Profiles". NTI. Archived from the original on 2013-10-06. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ a b c Tyler, Patrick (2003-12-30). "Libya'S Atom Bid In Early Phases - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-09. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ a b Barnes, Diane (11 September 2013). "Destruction of Libyan Chemical-Loaded Arms Remains on Hold". Global Security Newswire (NTI). Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- ^ Text by FRANCE 24. "Libya destroys last of Gaddafi's chemical weapons - France". France 24. Archived from the original on 2014-02-05. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Indyk, Martin S. "The Iraq War did not Force Gadaffi's Hand | Brookings Institution". Brookings.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cigar, Norman (January 2, 2012). Libya's Nuclear Disarmament: Lessons and Implications for Nuclear Proliferation. Marine Corps University. Archived from the original on 2014-09-07. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
- ^ Judith Miller. "How Gadhafi Lost His Groove: The complex surrender of Libya's WMD". Judith Miller. Archived from the original on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ a b c Rohlfing, Joan. "Libya: Nuclear Programme Overview". Nuclear Threat Initiative. Nuclear Threat Initiative. Archived from the original on 2011-08-27. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
- ^ Cockburn, Alexander (March 24, 2011). "Libya rebels: Gaddafi could be right about al-Qaeda". The Week, UK. Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
- ^ Judith Miller. "Gadhafi's Leap of Faith". Judith Miller. Archived from the original on 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ Press Contact: Kelsey Davenport (January 2013). "Chronology of Libya's Disarmament and Relations with the United States". armscontroltreatry. Archived from the original on 2013-05-13. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ "Libya's Cache of Toxic Arms All Destroyed". New York Times. 2 February 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-09. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- ^ "UNODA Treaties". treaties.unoda.org.
- ^ "North Korea's statement on Trump summit". BBC News. 16 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-05-16. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ Braut-Hegghammer, Malfrid. "Relinquished Nuclear Powers: A Case Study of Libya Archived 2015-06-10 at the Wayback Machine" in To Join or Not to Join the Nuclear Club: How Nations Think about Nuclear Weapons: Two Middle East Case Studies - Libya and Pakistan (Middle East Studies, April 2013).
- ^ "Libya military site yields possible radioactive material". Edition.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-21. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ "Libya's Ex-PM Held As Chemical Weapons Found". News.sky.com. 2011-09-23. Archived from the original on 2011-09-24. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ Dahl, Fredrik; MacSwan, Angus (22 September 2011). "Raw uranium stored near Libya's Sabha - IAEA". Reuters Africa. Reuters. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2011.