The United States has found evidence that Libya traded
nuclear and missile expertise with Egypt.
Inspections by a British-U.S. team of Libyan facilities in late 2003 and
early 2004 have uncovered evidence that Libya was both the source for and
recipient of nuclear and missile technology and expertise from Egypt.
Officials said the evidence confirmed suspicions over the last three years
of a secret trade between
Cairo and Tripoli in strategic weapons obtained from North Korea.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has also been seeking to
determine whether Egypt received Pakistani nuclear weapons designs,
including that for nuclear warheads, Middle East Newsline reported. A Chinese-origin nuclear warhead design
sold by Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was found in Libya.
"The evidence of Egyptian involvement in Libya's missile and nuclear
weapons program is highly damaging and most of the doubts we had previously
have been resolved," an official said. "That doesn't mean, however, that
there will be imminent repercussions."
[On Monday, the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily reported that the
Bush administration has agreed to increase U.S. aid to Egypt by $2.3
billion. The newspaper said $300 million would be relayed in a direct grant
and
the rest in loan guarantees.]
The officials did not elaborate on the type of evidence found in Libya.
But they said Egypt appeared to have been using Libya as a way-station for
obtaining
nuclear and missile technology and components from North Korea.
"We are still trying to understand the network, to see if other
countries have received the [weapons-related] technology, the weapons
designs," IAEA director-general Mohamed El Baradei, who did not cite Egypt,
said during a visit to Libya on Feb. 23. "This is of course an important and
urgent concern for us."
U.S. officials said they doubted whether the alleged Egyptian-Libyan
missile and nuclear cooperation would be raised during a scheduled April 12
meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and President George Bush.
The officials said the Bush administration as well as its predecessors have
been extremely cautious in discussing Egyptian weapons of mass destruction
programs with Mubarak or his senior aides. Egypt has signed the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and in December 2003 announced the cancellation of
a program to construct eight nuclear power reactors.
For years, Egypt obtained missile technology directly from Pyongyang,
officials said. But in 2001 the United States blocked a shipment of 50 North
Korean No-Dong
missiles to Egypt. A year later, the House subcommittee on terrorism was
told that Egypt received 24 No-Dong missile engines from North Korea.
Officials said Egypt -- which receives about $2 billion in annual U.S.
civilian and military aid -- was angered by a series of inquiries in 2002
regarding its missile and nuclear ties with Libya. They said Egypt
vociferously denied U.S. allegations, based on satellite photographs, that
Cairo was conducting a secret missile and WMD trade with Libya.
Since 2001, officials said, the United States has been monitoring
evidence that Egypt has tried to develop an intermediate-range missile. One
option said to have been sought by Egypt was the development of a
liquid-fueled missile known as the Vector, meant to have a range of up to
1,200 kilometers.
The U.S.-British inspections of Libyan facilities pointed to Egyptian
cooperation with Tripoli in the area of medium-range missiles. Officials
said the team found
evidence of Egyptian assistance to a Libyan program to develop a missile of
more than 1,000 kilometers based on the No-Dong.
One piece of evidence cited was the discovery in Libyan facilities of
fuel tanks meant for medium-range and intermediate-range missiles. Officials
said the British-U.S. team did not find entire missiles.
"We're just scratching the surface," the U.S. official said. "There were
places that we were not allowed to visit and there were places that we
didn't ask to go. This will be a process that will take a long time."
The United States reported that Libya, with assistance of North Korea,
succeeded in developing and producing an extended-range Scud C missile that
could travel 800 kilometers. Those missiles were transferred to the United
States, but officials said Washington has evidence that the Scud C
technology had been relayed to Egypt.