Nato air power prevented Muammar Gaddafi's forces reaching secret stockpiles of mustard gas during the nine-month war, it has been claimed.
Throughout the conflict the rebels were haunted by the fear that Gaddafi would use chemical weapons against them Photo: EPA
By Our Foreign Staff
10:23PM GMT 01 Nov 2011
A former rebel who belonged to a special anti-chemical weapons unit has claimed that stockpiles were carefully watched from the start of the conflict, while a captured Gaddafi commander said that the threat of attack from the skies meant the dictator's security forces were unable to get to their own stockpiles.
The claims were made as the National Transitional Council revealed that the regime had two secret stockpiles hidden in the desert, in addition to one that it had announced several years ago to the United Nations.
Throughout the conflict the rebels were haunted by the fear that Gaddafi would use chemical weapons against them, at one point issuing gas masks to thousands of fighters in Misurata.
Libyan expert Yussef Safi ad-Din, who was part of a special anti-chemical weapons unit based in Benghazi, said that one stockpile had contained weapons which he said were "ready for immediate military use." Mustard gas in both of the newly-revealed sites had been made safe, he added.
He said that during the conflict Libyan and Nato spies had watched approach roads to the stockpiles.
Related Articles
Syria: rogue scientist helped build nuclear site - 01 Nov 2011
No warships left defending Britain - 01 Nov 2011
German model Vanessa Hessler sacked for supporting Gaddafis - 01 Nov 2011
Libya: Al Qaeda flag flown above Benghazi courthouse - 01 Nov 2011
Syria: inside Hama, the city of fear - 01 Nov 2011
Gaddafi had revealed one site to the world, in the oasis of Al-Jafra near Waddan in central Libya, but had carefully hidden two others from the UN.
A former Gaddafi commander imprisoned by the NTC also revealed in an interview with news agency Agence France-Presse that the threat of bombing by US aircraft had prevented his forces reaching one of the stockpiles.
Mansur Daou, the former interior security chief who is now in prison in Misurata, said: "Gaddafi had quickly abandoned the idea of using chemical weapons, the Americans were watching over them from too near.
We could not get near them." The existence of new stockpiles was revealed after the United Nations Security Council demanded that Libya do more to deal with weapons left over from the civil war. Chemical weapons are a particular concern, along with shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles which it is feared al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups are trying to obtain.
Teams of Western experts, including some from the Central Intelligence Agency, are believed to be in Libya helping the NTC to secure the most dangerous weapons.
The regime had chemical and nuclear weapons programmes, but gave them up after a 2003 deal with Western powers.
Rebels always feared that secret stocks were undeclared, and many believed Gaddafi capable of using chemical weapons against civilians.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog"
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
02112011
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
No comments:
Post a Comment