(Washington Post) R. Jeffrey Smith, and Joby Warrick and Colum Lynch - The Obama administration is investigating whether Iran supplied the Libyan government of Moammar Gaddafi with hundreds of special artillery shells for chemical weapons that Libya kept secret for decades, U.S. officials said. The shells, which Libya filled with highly toxic mustard agent, were uncovered in recent weeks by revolutionary fighters at two sites in central Libya. "We are pretty sure we know" the shells were custom-designed and produced in Iran for Libya, said a senior U.S. official. The stockpile's existence violates Gaddafi's promises in 2004 to the U.S., Britain and the UN to declare and begin destruction of all of Libya's chemical arms, and it raises new questions about the ability of the world's nations to police such pledges in tightly closed societies.
2011-11-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive