Some weapons depots in Libya have still not been secured properly and “much has already gone missing” from unguarded sites, the top UN envoy in Libya said.
Preventing more weapons from being smuggled out of the country will be difficult, considering the nature of the vast desert nation’s borders, the envoy, Ian Martin, said on Sunday in an interview.
“That has to be a priority now, to secure what still remains in Libya,” Martin said.
During the chaos of Libya’s eight-month civil war, human rights groups and reporters came across a number of weapons depots that were left unguarded and were looted after the late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s fighters fled.
Martin said the unsecured weapons remain a “very, very serious cause for concern.”
He said they include -shoulder-held missiles, mines and ammunition.
“It’s clear that much has already gone missing from unsecured locations and that there are still locations which have not been properly secured,” he said.
Martin discussed progress concerning chemical weapons and nuclear material.
Last week, Libyan officials said they discovered two new sites with chemical weapons that had not been declared by the Qaddafi regime when it vowed several years ago to stop pursuing non-conventional weapons. Officials also said they found about 7,000 drums of raw uranium.
The Qaddafi regime fell with his death on Oct. 20, followed by a declaration of liberation by Libya’s new leadership three days later.
The UN mission headed by Martin is designed to help Libya’s interim leaders with the transition to democracy.
By late June, Libyans are scheduled to elect a national assembly that would oversee the drafting of a constitution, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections.
The National Transitional Council last week chose a new prime minister, who is to form a government by mid-month for the transition period.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Raheem al-Keeb said in a televised speech marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha that Libya must quickly form new security forces.
He added that “the presence of weapons in this random manner really concerns us.”
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