Russia asks UN to take control of Libya’s ‘unguarded’ yellowcake uranium. Libyans refuse to get close to it out of fear for their health. Al-Qaeda is very interested in getting their hands on it.
Russia has asked the UN Security Council to look into the dangers posed by a badly-guarded stockpile of yellowcake uranium in the Libyan Desert.
Recent reports have said that Al-Qaeda is interested in the supply as a potential nuclear weapon component.
Russia’s UN envoy, Vitaly Churkin.stressed that Libya remains an issue of “concern” as it acts as a source of proliferation of weapons and materials related to the production of weapons of mass destruction throughout the region.
An estimated 6,400 barrels of yellowcake uranium were discovered near the Muammar Gaddafi stronghold of Sabha towards the end of the uprising that resulted in the ruler’s death in October 2011.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has performed an inventory of the stock – which is kept in an ordinary warehouse, next to an estimated 4,000 surface-to-air missiles previously procured from Russia – and technically maintains control over it.
Yet a report from a visiting journalist in the UK’s Times newspaper last month alleged that the stockpile was in the control of a local weapons dealer, and his men did not even guard the warehouse for fear of suffering radiation poisoning.
"We have no use for the yellow uranium ourselves and are frightened of it," said Bharuddin Midhoun Arifi, a commander of 2000 fighters in Sabha. "My men don't like guarding the site as they believe it will make their skin fall off. So we guard it from a nearby checkpoint. Maybe someone could steal one or two drums if they wanted, but not more."
According to the militia commander, the security vacuum left following the death of Colonel Gaddafi is now attracting Al-Qaeda, which is seeking weapons. But Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz in September claimed the stockpile in Sabha has been secured with the help of IAEA inspectors.
"Libya is trying to determine if the concentrated uranium can be used for peaceful nuclear energy purposes or sold to countries which use the product for peaceful purposes," said the minister.
Under Muammar Gaddafi, Libya possessed chemical weapons and ballistic missiles while pursuing a nuclear weapons program.
But in 2003, Gaddafi announced that Libya would voluntarily eliminate all materials, equipment, and programs - including weapons of mass destruction and long-range ballistic missiles.
In 2004, Libya declared 25 tons of mustard gas and 1400 tons of chemical precursors when it joined the Chemical Weapons Convention. It also identified some 3500 chemical weapon munitions.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) supervised the destruction of Libya's chemical weapons stockpiles up until the uprising began in February 2011. The work resumed in 2012, and, according to authorities, is gaining momentum.
Read more - http://rt.com/news/libya-yellowcake-un-control-212/
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