Libya Got Nuclear Supplies From Network of Sources

Libya received its nuclear technology from a sophisticated international network but not necessarily with the knowledge of any government, the U.N. nuclear chief said Monday after viewing some of the equipment.

Mohamed ElBaradei, who toured four atomic sites with a team from his International Atomic Energy Agency and met with Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, said the Libyans displayed dozens of centrifuges that could be used to enrich uranium for weapons, compared with the thousands possessed by Iran.

“What we have seen is a program in the very initial stages of development,” ElBaradei said.

He also said Libya’s technology, dismantled and packed into crates, was a familiar design, meaning its origins would not be hard to trace.

ElBaradei said the network of suppliers behind Libya’s technology moved the equipment “across many countries.”

A sophisticated black market extends through Europe and Asia, ElBaradei said. Countries do not have to purchase complete enrichment systems from a single source, he said, but instead can buy pieces from many suppliers and cobble them together.

At a news conference, he appealed for export controls on the kind of equipment found here and for international surveillance of sites where enriched uranium is produced.

“The leeway for countries to develop uranium is too risky. We need to choke the supply,” he said.

The United States, which believes that Libya’s weapons programs are more extensive than the U.N. agency presumes, will send its own experts to help dismantle the programs, a senior Bush administration official said Monday. U.S. and British intelligence officials believe that there are 11 sites in Libya connected to weapons work, the official said.

Kadafi admitted this month that Libya had been seeking nuclear weapons but had decided to renounce them after months of secret negotiations with the U.S. and Britain.

ElBaradei arrived in Tripoli on Saturday and left Monday. Six IAEA inspectors remained for further talks and were expected to leave Thursday.