Libya has sent to the United States all the equipment believed to remain of its nuclear weapons program, along with its longer-range missiles and launchers, the White House said.
As part of an agreement to rid Libya of weapons of mass destruction, a ship containing 500 metric tonnes of equipment left the North African country yesterday for an undisclosed destination in the United States, it was confirmed.
The shipment included all of Libya's known centrifuge parts used to enrich uranium, and all equipment from its former uranium conversion facility.
The White House said the ship was also carrying all of Libya's longer-range missiles, including
five Scuds, and all associated equipment, including launchers.
Earlier shipments of nuclear weapons-related equipment were taken to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, the U.S. Department of Energy's largest science and energy laboratory. There, lawmakers said, it was destroyed.
Libya announced in December it would abandon efforts to acquire nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and has allowed U.S. inspectors to search its weapons sites and to remove sensitive equipment.
It is expected next week to sign onto a tough inspections procedure that allows snap U.N. inspections of nuclear facilities.