Libya OKs Inspection Protocol

Libya will allow spot inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, a diplomat said Sunday, describing the move as the next logical step in Tripoli’s decision to scrap its weapons of mass destruction programs.

The decision was made Saturday as a delegation from Libya met with Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a day after the announcement that Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi would scrap efforts to build nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Libya has agreed to provide the IAEA with details of its nuclear efforts and comply with the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

During Saturday’s meeting, the Libyan delegation agreed to sign an additional protocol to the treaty, thus giving the IAEA a strong mandate for wide-ranging inspections on short notice of most aspects of the country’s nuclear activities.

“It was a logical move on the part of Libya if it wanted to show it was serious about being open about its [nuclear] programs,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Kadafi’s decision to come clean about clandestine nuclear activities is the latest in a series of moves intended to end his country’s isolation and shed its reputation as a rogue nation.

U.N. sanctions on Libya were lifted this year after the North African nation accepted responsibility for the 1988 downing of a U.S. airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

Washington left its sanctions in place, accusing Tripoli of seeking biological and chemical arms.

Some U.S. officials said over the weekend that it was too early to say when, or if, the United States would lift its embargo.