The Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Libya, agreed to voluntarily dismantle, eliminate, and dismantle its nuclear programme on 19 December 2003.[1] Libyan leader Colonel Mu'ammar Gaddafi ordered to eliminate all nuclear materials, equipment, and research production resulting the ending and officially rolled back of the nuclear programme.[1] Libya is the signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which its leader, King Idris, signed in 1968 and ratified it in 1975, and concluded safeguard agreement with IAEA [1]. In December 2003, it agreed to dismantle its nuclear program, which Libya claimed was organized to counter Israel's nuclear program. The United States and Great Britain dismantled the Libyan program with assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency.[1]
Nuclear ambitions
King Idres, the Monarch of Libya, signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in July of 1968. However, the year after, King Idres was deposed in a coup d'etat led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, head of the Revolutionary Command Council of Libya (RCCL).[1] Libya ratified the treaty in 1975, but Colonel Gaddafi allegedly violate the treaty by making efforts to acquire the nuclear weapon from various sources.[1] Libya's nuclear programme was in response to counter the Israeli nuclear program.[1] Israel was benefited with technological advancement and a large influx of scientist comparing to Libya, whose technical and academic progress was relatively lower than Israel.[1] Colonel Gaddafi began to look at the illicit nuclear proliferation networks and various black market sources.[1] This programme was delegated to Swiss nuclear engineer [[Friedrich Tinner] by Colonel Gaddafi, and was charged with the development of nuclear weapons. In 1970, in a meeting with Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China, Colonel Gaddafi an unsuccessful attempt for a purchase of nuclear weapon, but it was was denied by China.[1][2] In 1974, while attending the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Lahore (Pakistan), Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Prime minister at that time, delegated Libya to participate in its clandestine programme, the Project-706.[3] But, by the time, Libyan technicians joined this programme, Bhutto was executed by the order of Pakistan Supreme Court.[3] The new Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) Genera Zia-ul-Haque distrusted and hated Colonel Gaddafi, and Libyan scientists were carefully removed from the participation as they were told to leave the country immediately.[3] During this time, Libyan Intelligence made an unsuccessful attempts to infiltrate in Pakistan's high-powered research institutes but such attempts were thwarted by ISI as they had arrested and intercepted Libyan agents.[2]
Colonel Gaddafi did not wanted to give up, therefore, Libya turned to India, an arch rival of Pakistan, for nuclear assistance.[4][1] In 1978, Libyan agents persuaded India and tried to buy the nuclear weapons from India.[4] However, as part of India's Atoms for Peace program, a nuclear energy pact was signed by Libya and India.[1][4] It is unclear how much interaction and cooperation was made by both countries.[1] Through out the 1970s and 1980s, Libya made a tremendous effort to acquire the weapon from various sources despite having facing difficulties in academic progress.[1]In 1970s, Libya pursued the uranium enrichment process, and gave an enormous effort to gain access to uranium ore, uranium conversion facilities, and enrichment technologies that together would have enabled Libya to produce weapons-grade uranium.[1] The approach was failed in 1979, and in 1980, Libya decided to pursue and plutonium-based pathway to nuclear weapons.[1] On multiple times, Libya violated its signed treaty, and imported 1,200 tons of uranium ore concentrate from French-controlled mines in Niger without declaring it to the IAEA, as required by the NPT.[1] In 1982, Libya attempted to purchase a plant for manufacturing uranium tetrafluoride (UF6) rom the Belgium.[1] At the time, Libya had no declared nuclear facilities that required uranium tetrafluoride, and the purchase was refused.[1]
In 1981, Soviet Union finally agreed to built a nuclear facility, completely under IAEA safeguards and inspection. Known as Tajura Nuclear Research Facility (TNRF) where Libya conducted illegal Uranium conversion experiments.[1] The unknown nuclear weapon state also allegedly assisted Libya in these experiments whose name has kept in secrecy by IAEA.[1] Nuclear expert, David Albright, of the Institute for Science and International Security said Soviet Union and China were the most likely suspects.[1]In 1980, a foreign expert at the facility began to conduct experiments design program at the Tajoura Nuclear Research Center in Libya aimed at producing gas centrifuges for uranium enrichment.[1] The IAEA reported that it was Friedrich Tinner, a nuclear engineer from Switzerland, a former employee of IAEA.[1] Tinner completed the work in 1992, but Libya was not yet able to produce an operating centrifuge, and no centrifuge experiments involving nuclear materials had been conducted.[1] Tinner left for Pakistan, and the centrifuge programme was abandoned and dismantle.[1] In 1995, Tinner returned to Libya and tried to re-start the programme.[1] In 1997, Tinner began to received technical assistance from various sources, as Libya had made a strategic decision to start the programme, with new attitude.[1] In 1997, Libya received the provided 20 pre-assembled L-1 centrifuges and components for an additional 200 L-1 centrifuges and related part from foreign suppliers. One of the 20 pre-assembled rotors was used to install a completed single centrifuge at the Al Hashan site, which was first successfully tested in October 2000. Libya reported to the IAEA that no nuclear material had been used during tests on the L-1 centrifuges.[1]
In 2000, Libya accelerated its programme as Tinner being the head of the programme. Libya began to order centrifuges and components from other countries with the intention of installing a centrifuge plant to make enriched uranium. [1]
Foreign Assistance
In 1980, Soviet Union served as big partner of Libya in its nuclear programme.[4] Soviet Union built two nuclear research facilities, which was put under IAEA safeguards. The first being the Al Hashan Facility (AHF) and other one being the Tajura Nuclear Research Facility (TNRF).[4] Libyan nuclear programme repeatedly suffered with mismanagement and loss of academic generation.[4] The Tajura facility was ran under the Soviet experts and staffed by small number of inexperienced 750 Libyan specialists and technicians aided by Soviet staff.[4] In 1984, Libya negotiated with Soviet Union for a supply of nuclear power plant, but its retro technology had dissatisfied Colonel Gaddafi.[4] Gaddafi negotiated with Belgium but talks were failed.[4] In 1984, Libya ordered a pilot scale uranium conversion facility, and negotiated with Japan for it.[4] A Japanese company supplied Libya with the technology and the sale was apparently arranged directly with the Japanese instead of through middlemen.[4] The facility was established near at the Al Hashan Facility and the research was started.[4]
However, after Friedrich Tinner joined the programme and became the head of programme.[4] Libya employed large number of black market sources.[4] Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, a senior scientist, was debriefed after he made a national wide confession in Pakistan to have been sold sensitive of designs centrifuges through Tinner to Libya.[4]
Dismantlement
In 2003, U.S. intelligence agencies seized a subsequent consignment of centrifuge-related equipment bound for Libya in a northern Mediterranean port. The investigations revealed that many of these components were manufactured by the Scomi Precision Engineering plant in Malaysia. And, it was produced under technical guidance of dr. A.Q. Khan, and nationals from United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. After the news became public, Libyan ambitions were cooled down and demoralized.[1]
According to some analysts, the 11 September 2001 attacks, which Qadhafi denounced, and the impending U.S. invasion of Iraq increased Libya's desire to make peace with the United States. Libyan officials began to meet covertly with British, Russian, and U.S. officials to officially dismantle the programme. In March 2003, days before the invasion of Iraq, Qadhafi's personal envoys contacted President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair about Libya's willingness to dismantle program. Subsequently, at Qadhafi's direction, Libyan officials provided British and U.S. officers with documentation and additional details on Libya's chemical, biological, nuclear, and ballistic missile activities. Libya reportedly allowed U.S. and British officials to visit 10 previously secret sites and dozens of Libyan laboratories and military factories to search for evidence of nuclear fuel cycle-related activities, and for chemical and missile program
On 19 December 2003, Gaddafe made a surprise announcement to dismantle the programme. Libya agreed to destroy all of its chemical, nuclear, and biological weapon. Libyan provided the designs of centrifuges to U.S. officials and gave the name of its suppliers. The revelation led the debriefing of Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's one of senior and top scientist. In 2004, the U.S., along with IAEA officials and Interpol, led the arrest of Libyan nuclear programme's head Friedrich Tinner. On 22 January 2004, U.S. transport planes carried 55,000 pounds of documents and equipment related to Libya's nuclear and ballistic missile programs to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. In March 2004, over 1,000 additional centrifuge and missile parts were shipped out of Libya.
^ abNazi, Nazir Naji (2010). "Colonel Gaddafi's Libya and his Nuclear ambitions". Nazir Nazi and Jang Group of Media. ((cite web)): Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
^ abcStengel, Richard (Monday, Jun. 03, 1985). "Who has the Bomb?". Time magazine. pp. 7/13. Retrieved February 23, 2011Template:Inconsistent citations ((cite news)): Check |archiveurl= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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