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IAEA: Traces of enriched uranium found in Libya
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-29 09:02

A leaked report from the International Atomic Energy Agency says that highly enriched uranium was found in centrifuges in Libya's nuclear facilities, a diplomat who has seen the document said Friday.

Gadhafi announced in January he was giving up his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

The report was given to the 35 member countries of the IAEA's governing board ahead of a meeting scheduled for Tuesday to consider Libya's nuclear program. Details of the IAEA reports often are leaked after they have been handed to member countries.

"The report says low and high enriched uranium was found in centrifuges in Libyan nuclear facilities but there is no determination as to the source of the uranium," the diplomat said.

The diplomat, familiar with recent IAEA programs, said the findings were similar to recent controversial infringements found in centrifuges in Iran. Iran claimed the traces of uranium were on recently imported equipment obtained from the black market.

"As far as is known, Libya has not enriched any uranium itself so a similar explanation may be feasible," the diplomat said.

The diplomat said the report did not mean Libya had breached the commitments it recently made to end its weapons of mass destruction programs.

According to this diplomat, the broad consensus is that Libya has been open and transparent with its programs since its leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, announced in January that the country was giving up its programs of weapons of mass destruction.

However, the finding raises questions about the illegal trade of nuclear materials, the diplomat said.

"What this finding does show is that there are many unanswered questions about the nature of black market trade in nuclear equipment," the diplomat said.

Earlier this week, U.S. officials said international inspectors had uncovered evidence North Korea may have supplied Libya with uranium hexafluoride, a key ingredient to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.

However, the officials stressed the evidence was inconclusive and the matter was still under investigation.

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