Mahmoud Jibril, Libya Prime Minister, Confirms Presence Of Chemical Weapons

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libya's interim prime minister on Sunday confirmed the presence of chemical weapons in Libya and said foreign inspectors would arrive later this week to deal with the issue.

Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said Libya has no interest in keeping such weapons.

"We would like to assure you that the new Libya will be a peaceful Libya and that it is in our interest to have no weapons in Libya," he told reporters.

Last week, Ian Martin, the top U.N. envoy to Libya, told the U.N. Security Council that undeclared chemical weapons sites have been located in Libya.

At the time, he also expressed concern over command and control of chemical and nuclear material sites.

Jibril, who has announced his resignation ahead of the formation of a new interim government, did not provide any details about the chemical weapons.

"There are international organizations taking care of this issue," he said, adding that representatives of those organizations are due to arrive in Libya later in the week.

A Russian-drafted U.N. resolution, to be voted on this week, calls on Libyan authorities to destroy stockpiles of chemical weapons in coordination with international authorities.

Comments

[Qirfiraz]

02:42 PM on 11/01/2011

Moammar Gaddafi deserves to be, posthumously, awarded Nobel Peace Prize for NOT using these chemical weapons, on European countries, in retaliation to Nato bombing directly aimed at killing him.

[caprawalie]

02:42 PM on 11/01/2011

The Arab spring has turned into the Arab market for WMDs in Libya.....lets go back and mess them up like Iraq! (we definitely know how to do it)

[vascopyjama]

06:12 AM on 11/01/2011

Chemical weapons in Lybia......Oh boy, lets invade. It worked like a charm in Iraq. We could drag Colin Powell out again and put him in front of the UN. Better do it quick though before we stop funding the UN.

[ADavis41]

11:04 AM on 11/02/2011

Its on the way, with this group in charge.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055630/Flying-proudly-birthplace-Libyas-revolution-flag-Al-Qaeda.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[Steve-o-k]

12:23 AM on 11/01/2011

Small question. Who sold the chemical weapons in the first place. We have a right to know.

[The ORF in Largo]

10:45 PM on 10/31/2011

The next step should be to locate,recover and control all the shoulder fired heat seeking missiles
before they they become totally lost into the black market

[Jeramie Shebester]

10:24 PM on 10/31/2011

Even if the chemical weapons were stamped "MADE IN IRAQ" it wouldn't make the news.

[royklopfenstein]

08:09 PM on 10/31/2011

Did any of these weapons come from Iraq, of course? Will we be lied to about that, of course?

[Edward Standley]

09:54 PM on 10/31/2011

I would be interested to know where they came from. Iraq would not be one of my guesses.

[royklopfenstein]

10:38 PM on 10/31/2011

Thousands of truck trips were observed from Iraq to Libya prior to the invasion. They were carrying produce of course.

[royklopfenstein]

09:23 AM on 11/20/2011

Some of them came from the United States, sold in the 70s to Iraq. Others from Russia and China. There were thousands of truck trips from Iraq to Libya, tracked by satelite, prior to Gulf War II. Read "Madame Secretary" by Secretary Albright.

[vascopyjama]

06:13 AM on 11/01/2011

All very convenient isn't it.

[JanP]

07:59 PM on 10/31/2011

al Qaeda flags are flying all over Libya. Guess where some of the chemical weapons and missiles end up?

[cshae89546]

10:54 PM on 10/31/2011

JanP: Probably trucked, without customs inspection, across the Mexican border in semi-trailers and tractors that have not undergone DOT inspection and that are driven by Mexican nationals with no DOT license who by the provisions of NAFTA now have complete access to the American interstate system from border to border NSE&W. It should also make it much easier for illegals crossing, human trafficing and drug smuggling. Heck, they might even be able to deliver some plutonium or other fissionable material to some major American city like Los Angles, New York, Chicago or even....Washington, D.C.

[agp3618]

07:03 PM on 10/31/2011

What I really love is that some of those missiles have found their way to the Sinai Desert - I think we should have a lottery as to which group is going to use them first. Will it be one of the two Muslim Brotherhood groups vying for power in Egypt, or Hamas. or PLO/Fatah recently released killers, or Hizbullah, or Syria, or Iran? Best place your bets quickly.

[jdogmyers4]

06:24 PM on 10/31/2011

Libya shortly to become a suburb of Iran just you wait and see.

[junkle5]

05:56 PM on 10/31/2011

Just more Government propaganda.

[JanP]

07:59 PM on 10/31/2011

It isn't what you want to hear, right?

[junkle5]

05:55 PM on 11/06/2011

I really don't care what they lie about. unless you were born stupid never believe anything the Government says !

[DANIELISTICALL]

05:32 PM on 10/31/2011

Libya,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,MISSION ACOMPLISHED,,,,,,,, and not one american life lost
Osama bin Laden ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,MISSION ACOMPLISHED,,,,,,,, and not one american life lost
(AQAP) leader Anwar al-Awlaki ,,,,,MISSION ACOMPLISHED,,,,,,,, and not one american life lost
‘Atiyah ‘Abd al-Rahman, .,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,MISSION ACOMPLISHED,,,,,,,, and not one american life lost
Anwar al-Awlaki ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,MISSION ACOMPLISHED,,,,,,,, and not one american life lost

[jambalayajack]

06:28 PM on 10/31/2011

Good on you Mr. President. I like a President that takes action. I like a President who knows where Libya is. I like a President that is decisive. I like a President who continues to try against the odds and with so much resistance. Let's get all those things that need to be done, done.

[dan101t]

06:44 PM on 10/31/2011

So, you are saying 5 political assassinations overseen by obama?
How many more people will he order killed?

[whydothat]

07:41 PM on 10/31/2011

less than Bush by about 140,000. Of course the ones killed by the military on behalf of all of us were confessed killers that gloated about it oon the internet. There is a difference. It is a better strategy than the previous ones. Were you one of those people that claimed Obama would be too soft on terrorists before he was elected?

[Edward Standley]

09:56 PM on 10/31/2011

Look at those names again. "Political assassinations"? What a rube. :)

[weiryc]

05:06 PM on 10/31/2011

Iraq, use against own people, killed so many innocents, using WMD chemical weapons...possibly hidden in Libya during UN inspections...

[whydothat]

07:43 PM on 10/31/2011

other than irresponsible speculation can you support your suggestion that these may have come from Iraq? Or are you trying to justify the last adminstrations diastrous invasion?

[Edward Standley]

09:58 PM on 10/31/2011

Possibly put on a rocket ship to the planet Zoltar for all that speculation is worth.l

[deltalady]

05:05 PM on 10/31/2011

Hey...Obama was able to find them, huh? I remember Bush and Cheney looking under the furniture in the WH for them...wasn't THAT a hoot, huh?? I'm SO glad we're now justified in staying in Libya for 10 years...and Syria, and Kuwait, and Dubai, and Iraq, and Afghanistan....the endless list of Middle Eastern war mongering...makes me so proud.

[whydothat]

07:47 PM on 10/31/2011

Syria? Lybia? We are not in there. I think it is encouraging that the new regime wants no part of the chemical weapons. Did we attack Kuwait or Dubai on a holiday weekend and no one watched TV?

[deltalady]

08:51 AM on 11/01/2011

I read an article in Sunday's paper (way back in the front page section of course) that we will have troops in Kuwait, Dubai, etc. to act as a buffer against Iran. You must dig for the truth and if all you depend on are the usual corporate media outlets, you're not going to hear about these things. The MIC owns this WH just like it owned the previous one. If you think we are not above interfering in Syria or anywhere else....nothing personal...but you are extremely naive. That is what America is now...we produce nothing but fake money and bloody war.

[royklopfenstein]

08:13 PM on 10/31/2011

I talked with several marines who personally found, and n some instances destroyed WMDs. They were as perplexed as I that W kept insisting there were none.

[Edward Standley]

09:58 PM on 10/31/2011

You have been....misinformed.

[A George]

04:40 PM on 10/31/2011

Apparently Sadam Hussein stored his WMD's in Libya.

[whydothat]

07:50 PM on 10/31/2011

So you think we should have invaded Lybia instead of Iraq? And the bush crack inteligence team didn't know about the transfer? If the facts exists lets see them. Maybe it is so.

[A George]

11:58 PM on 10/31/2011

Psst, that was sarcasm. Only one person was ignorant enough to believe it and reply.