5000 Manpad under control in Libya. Fr-Uk-Us teams to the rescue
(BRUSSELS2) French, British and American teams present were in Libya to “identify, find, confirm the destruction and secure approximately 5000 Manpads and their components ". And the various stocks of portable surface-to-air missile launchers (the famous Manpads) now have "been secured“, specifies the British government in a response to the parliamentarians of the House of Commons, published at the end of April.
NB: Resolution 2040 of the Security Council of March 2012 in fact gave a mandate to the United Nations mission in Libya (UNSMIIL) to carry out actions to combat proliferation in conjunction with the Libyan authorities. framework that the US-UK and French teams went to the field.
Stocks of Manpads (almost) under control
La "most of the ammunition stocks of the old regime have been inspected “, specifies the government. " We believe that all remaining Manpads are now under the control of regional military councils and militias ". Work " keep on going so to help ensure that all Manpads can go back under the " control of the Libyan transitional government ". The Libyan Mine Action Center (LMAC) was mandated by the new authorities to coordinate the entire conventional arms control program.
Chemical weapons: secret stocks discovered
On the side of chemical weapons, even your reassuring tone. Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have confirmed that these " stocks of chemical agents and precursors were still in place ". They " are protected by armed guards and cannot easily be used as weapons”. Libya had suspended in February 2011 the program of destruction of these weapons, started under international supervision, after a " mechanical failure in a weapons destruction plant » (NB: probably destroyed by one of the NATO bombings).
Personalized "repairs are in progress ". The OPCW technical secretariat must be on site to monitor the on-site verification. " No date has been set to resume destruction operations”. It depends on the Libyan government to restore the supporting infrastructure and put in place sufficient measures to " ensuring the safety of OPCW inspectors ". The Gaddafi regime had failed to declare all of these undeclared stockpiles of weapons, and the new authorities reported to the OPCW what they considered to be undeclared chemical weapons. OPCW inspectors thus visited the Ruwagha site in January 2012 to " to verify " the remaining weapons.
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