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NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS

October 30, 2014: Libya has asked for foreign assistance in destroying its remaining stockpile of raw materials for making nerve gas. Although facilities for the destruction of this stuff have been built in Libya and Libyans trained to do it, the chaos in Libya since the Kaddafi government was overthrown in 2011 have prevented the work from being done. So the Libyans are asking for the 850 tons of chemicals to be shipped out and destroyed overseas as was recently done with a similar Syrian stockpile.

In 2012 foreign nations agreed to provide experts and equipment to help destroy Libyan chemical weapons. Moamar Kaddafi stockpiled nerve, mustard, and several other types of poisons over the decades. Some of these chemicals are so old that they are dangerous to handle.

In 2004 Libya handed over to international disarmament officials details about Libya's chemical weapons program. Libya described one chemical weapons production facility and stockpiles containing thousands of tons of raw materials needed to manufacture sarin nerve gas as well as two large stockpiles containing 22 tons of mustard gas.

At the same time Libya announced it would begin destroying more than 3,300 unfilled chemical bombs, with the help of foreign experts. This process was still incomplete when the Kaddafi dictatorship was overthrown in 2011.