Foreign Minister Petersen welcomes Libya’s decision to abandon weapons of mass destruction

Foreign Minister Jan Petersen welcomed the news that Libya has now announced its intention to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programmes and allow comprehensive international inspections.

"I hope that Libya will as soon as possible honour its promise to sign an Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency on inspections of its nuclear facilities, as Iran has just done. This would be a new step forward in the efforts to strengthen international agreements, stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and ensure that they do not fall into the hands of terrorists. It is also important that Libya adheres to the Chemical Weapons Convention and thereby also allows inspections under the convention," said the Foreign Minister.

"Norway attaches great importance to using political means in the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and international terrorism. It is quite clear that the political pressure exerted by the UK and the USA has been a decisive factor in Libya’s choosing the right path to enhanced security in the region and the world as a whole," concluded the Foreign Minister.