A senior Libyan official met with International Atomic Energy Agency Director Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday to discuss breaking down Tripoli’s weapons of mass destruction – just one day after Moammar Khadafy announced he was dismantling the weapons program.
The high-profile meeting came as other Libyan officials pressed the United States and Britain to open relations with the much-maligned North African nation.
Saif al-Islam Khadafy – the Libyan leader’s son – hit the airwaves yesterday, telling CNN the surprise announcement “will pave the way for the normalization of political relations with the states and also with the West in general.”
“It’s a critical deal for Libya, because first of all we will get access to defensive weapons and no sanctions on Libyan arms imports anymore,” the junior Khadafy added.
“We will get access to the know-how and technology in sectors which were banned.”
U.S. sanctions against Libya date back more than 20 years, banning the import of crude oil.
The extent of Libya’s weapons program was still unclear, but a British report said the country was close to producing an atomic bomb.
And U.S. officials said Libya’s nuclear program was “much further advanced” than had been thought.
The sit-down between ElBaradei and the Libyan official came nearly 15 years to the day after agents for Khadafy blew up a Pan Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing everyone on board.
But leaders from across the globe heaped praise on Khadafy yesterday, welcoming the news that the Libyan leader – after months of secret negotiations with U.S. and British officials – would open the country to international inspectors.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called Khadafy’s decision “statesmanlike and courageous.”
French officials lauded U.S. and British efforts to rid Libya of its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
“We are strong when the international community moves forward united,” said Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who was critical of the U.S. and Britain going to war in Iraq without unified world support.
While Khadafy’s son claimed negotiations with the United States and Britain started before Operation Iraqi Freedom, a U.S. official said he believed that the war in Iraq sent a strong message.
“I can’t imagine Iraq went unnoticed by the Libyan leadership,” the unnamed official said. With Post Wire Services