Libya Abrogates WMD and Submits to IAEA’s Investigation

Libya, which has been developing scud missiles with North Korea and also been dubbed a “rogue state” by the U.S., declared to renounce its weapons of mass destruction.

The collapse of Hussein’s regime, Iran’s submission to International Atomic Energy Agency’s special investigation, and the recent decision by Libya to dismantle its WMD program will strengthen George Bush’s WMD Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and further isolate North Korea in the international society. Among the three countries in the “axis of evil,” North Korea is the only country that has not shown its intention of dismantling its nuclear program and WMD, and how the Bush administration deals with the policies toward North Korea will be of keen interest.

On December 20, the day after Libya declared to abandon WMD, President Bush called Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi saying, “I think Moammar Gadhafi understood the importance of being a member of international society longing for peace. I hope North Korean leader Kim Jong-il feels the same way.”

Regarding this issue, Tom Daschle and two other top Democratic Party senators sent a letter to President Bush, insisting, “The threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons is already at stake. President Bush should become personally involved to ensure a coherent response.”

China has also issued rules restricting exports of missile, nuclear and biological technologies that can be used to make or deliver weapons of mass destruction and these rules will take effect on January 1, Xinhua reported on Saturday.

After acknowledging the development of weapons of mass destruction on December 19, Libyian leader Gadhafi laid out proposal for disarming and allowing inspections. The following day, Libya sent officials to Vienna for talks with the U.N. atomic watchdog, the IAEA, and negotiated the abolishment of nuclear program.

On the other hand, with the cooperation from Libyan government, the U.S. intelligence agents visited WMD facilities in Libya and concluded in their investigation that, “although the enriched uranium program has advanced a lot, they have not yet created products for nuclear fission,” AP and other foreign media reported.