Russia has asked the UN Security Council to look into the dangers posed by a badly-guarded stockpile of yellowcake uranium in the Libyan Desert. Recent reports have said that Al-Qaeda is interested in the supply as a potential nuclear weapon component.
“I have spoken with UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon about the
issue, and asked him to take it up with the United Nations
mission in Libya,” Russia’s UN envoy, Vitaly Churkin, told
ITAR-TASS news agency from New York.
“I also said we would mention the problem at Security Council
consultations, and we have done so.”
Churkin also said that the head of United Nations Support Mission
in Libya, Tarek Mitri, spoke with Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who
promised to focus on the issue. The Russian diplomat also said
that a special inter-ministerial committee was set up in Tripoli
to deal with the matter.
The UN envoy also stressed that Libya remains an issue of
“concern” as it acts as a source of proliferation of
weapons and materials related to the production of weapons of
mass destruction throughout the region.
During the consultation, Churkin said that Russia made two
specific proposals. First of all, to send the matter to the
expert panel committee of the UN Security Council (UNSC) that
monitors the implementation of sanctions against Libya with the
possibility to ban arms exports from the country.
Secondly, Russia asked the Security Council relay the
organization’s concern to the Libyan authorities so that they
will treat the issue in a “serious” way and “will try
to take practical steps to remedy the situation," said the
permanent representative of the Russian Federation.
An estimated 6,400 barrels of yellowcake uranium were discovered
near the Muammar Gaddafi stronghold of Sabha towards the end of
the uprising that resulted in the ruler’s death in October
2011.
Yellowcake is a powder obtained through the milling, chemical processing, drying, and filtering of uranium ore. Yellowcake is generally used to produce commercial nuclear materials, such as fuel elements in nuclear reactors that use un-enriched uranium. Known for its yellow color during early mining operations, yellowcake can be further processed into enriched uranium. It can yield weapons-grade uranium if enriched to 90 percent after a series of complex operations.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has performed
an inventory of the stock – which is kept in an ordinary
warehouse, next to an estimated 4,000 surface-to-air missiles
previously procured from Russia – and technically maintains
control over it.
Yet a report from a visiting journalist in the UK’s Times
newspaper last month alleged that the stockpile was in the
control of a local weapons dealer, and his men did not even guard
the warehouse for fear of suffering radiation poisoning.
"We have no use for the yellow uranium ourselves and are
frightened of it," said Bharuddin Midhoun Arifi, a commander
of 2000 fighters in Sabha. "My men don't like guarding the
site as they believe it will make their skin fall off. So we
guard it from a nearby checkpoint. Maybe someone could steal one
or two drums if they wanted, but not more."
According to the militia commander, the security vacuum left
following the death of Colonel Gaddafi is now attracting
Al-Qaeda, which is seeking weapons.
"Qa'ida come to visit me, asking to buy weapons, asking for
heat-seeking missiles, asking for uranium," Arifi said.
"It started this year when the French sent troops to chase
them out of Mali. Qa'ida came to Sabha asking for medical
supplies. They received some. Next they came back asking for
weapons" including surface-to-air missiles capable of
shooting down a passenger liner.
A former commander of the British military's chemical defense regiment Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told RT that the fact that Libya has so much of this yellowcake uranium is a concern.
“If Al Qaeda did get hold of this yellowcake it potentially
could be used for a radiological explosive device…One would
expect that security agencies around the world would be looking
very closely at this to ensure that yellowcake is secured in
Libya and any potential proliferation of it outside of Libya is
looked at very closely indeed.”
Despite The Times report, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed
Abdelaziz in September claimed the stockpile in Sabha has been
secured with the help of IAEA inspectors.
"Libya is trying to determine if the concentrated uranium can
be used for peaceful nuclear energy purposes or sold to countries
which use the product for peaceful purposes," said the
minister.
Yet the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli had previously
asked the Libyan authorities to use the uranium for
"industrial and agricultural development and in the production
of clean energy.”
Under Muammar Gaddafi, Libya possessed chemical weapons and
ballistic missiles while pursuing a nuclear weapons program. But
in 2003, Gaddafi announced that Libya would voluntarily eliminate
all materials, equipment, and programs - including weapons of
mass destruction and long-range ballistic missiles.
In 2004, Libya declared 25 tons of mustard gas and 1400 tons of
chemical precursors when it joined the Chemical Weapons
Convention. It also identified some 3500 chemical weapon
munitions.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
supervised the destruction of Libya's chemical weapons stockpiles
up until the uprising began in February 2011. The work resumed in
2012, and, according to authorities, is gaining momentum.
"The process of elimination is being conducted step-by-step,
with the latest stage of the destruction of chemicals taking
place between December, 2012 and May, 2013," Colonel Ali
Chikhi, spokesman for the Libyan Army staff, told AFP in
September. "Libya has destroyed 95 percent of its mustard gas
stocks and is on course to eliminate the remainder by 2016 at the
latest."