| The United States has been told by Libyan intelligence officials that an important quantity of nuclear equipment secretly purchased by Libya in a bid to create its own nuclear arsenal appears to be missing, The Washington Post reported on Saturday. Libya promised last December to abandon its quest for nuclear weapons in exchange for improved relations with the West. Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the equipment included sensitive components of machines used to enrich uranium. It had been ordered from black-market suppliers months earlier and was now long overdue. US officials present at the meeting said the Libyans wanted to prepare the Americans for the possibility that more illicit nuclear shipments could suddenly appear on Tripoli’s docks. But despite a search that has spanned the globe, US and international investigators are still struggling to account for a number of sensitive parts Libya ordered for construction of its uranium enrichment plant. US and UN investigators have identified many of the network’s operatives and methods and recovered tens of thousands of parts in a dragnet that has reached from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Europe, according to the report. However, the investigators believe that some of the suppliers to the network have not yet been identified, The Post said. |