Libya and weapons of mass destruction

Libya pursued programs to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction from when <a href="/facts/Muammar_Gaddafi/JFp2s57J">Muammar Gaddafi</a> <a href="/facts/Libyan_coup_d%27etat_(1969)/vnwEQLxj">seized control of Libya in 1969</a> until he announced on 19 December 2003 that <a href="/facts/Libya/HMPH8PWR">Libya</a> would voluntarily eliminate all materials, equipment and programs that could lead to internationally proscribed weapons. This included weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological weapons) and long-range ballistic missiles.
Libya under <a href="/facts/Idris_of_Libya/F3XRIxIa">King Idris</a> signed the <a href="/facts/Nuclear_Non-Proliferation_Treaty/yE0ekVtm">Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty</a> (NPT) in 1968 and Gaddafi ratified it in 1975, and concluded a safeguards agreement with the <a href="/facts/International_Atomic_Energy_Agency/o84JrwQ7">International Atomic Energy Agency</a> (IAEA) in 1980. The United States and the United Kingdom assisted Libya in removing equipment and material from its nuclear weapons program, with independent verification by IAEA.
In 1982, Libya ratified the <a href="/facts/Biological_Weapons_Convention/IqQq04GD">Biological Weapons Convention</a>.
In 2004, Libya acceded to the <a href="/facts/Chemical_Weapons_Convention/eP3Vsv5o">Chemical Weapons Convention</a>, and declared 24.7 metric tonnes of <a href="/facts/Mustard_gas/e3qWU2Qp">mustard gas</a>, 1,390 metric tonnes of chemical precursors for making <a href="/facts/Sarin/aYEK2f61">sarin</a>, as well as 3,563 unloaded chemical weapon munitions (aerial bombs). The OPCW set January 2014 as the deadline for the full destruction of Libya's chemical weapons. Libya began destroying its chemical stockpiles and munitions later in 2004, but it missed deadlines for converting one chemical weapons production facility to peaceful use and for destroying its stockpile of <a href="/facts/Sulfur_mustard/e3qWU2Qp">mustard agent</a>. In October 2014, Libya asked for foreign assistance to transport its 850 tonne stockpile of precursor chemicals for making nerve gas out of Libya for destruction. In February 2015, Libyan military sources told media that unidentified armed men had captured large amounts of Libya’s chemical weapons, including mustard gas and sarin. Destruction of Libya's chemical weapon precursors was completed in November 2017.
Libya signed the <a href="/facts/Treaty_on_the_Prohibition_of_Nuclear_Weapons/MxQIm9Fq">Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons</a> on 20 September 2017, but has not ratified it.

Libya and weapons of mass destruction open-in-new

Libya and weapons of mass destruction