Moises Saman for The New York Times
Looted crates of artillery lay on the ground of a factory in Tripoli.
TRIPOLI, Libya ? The sign on the wall reads ?Schoolbook Printing and Storage Warehouse,? but the fact that the double gates in the wall have been crudely ripped off suggests something more interesting might be inside.
It turns out that the only books to be found in any of the three large buildings in the walled compound are manuals ? how to fire rocket launchers and wire-guided missiles, among others. The buildings are actually disguised warehouses full of munitions ? mortar shells, artillery rounds, anti-tank missiles and more ? thousands of pieces of military ordinance that are completely unguarded more than two weeks after the fall of the capital.
Perhaps most interesting of all is what is no longer there, but until recent days apparently was: shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles of the type that could be used by terrorists to down civilian airliners. American authorities have long been concerned that Libyan missiles could easily find their way onto the black market.
These missiles, mostly SA-7b Grails, as NATO refers to them, have been spotted in Libya before and are well known to have been sold to the regime of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi by former Eastern bloc countries. The evidence at the schoolbook warehouse confirms just how large those quantities were. It also raises questions about how many of them may have been purloined by rebels, criminals or smugglers. Matthew Schroeder, who researches heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles and their proliferation for the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said that the discovery of yet another looted arms depot in Libya was cause for concern, especially depots that contained what security specialists call Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems, or Manpads.
Western governments and non-government organizations have repeatedly asked and prodded the rebel government, the Transitional National Council, to take steps to secure the vast stockpiles of arms that the de facto authority has inherited, apparently to little avail.
?Claims that depots holding Manpads and other dangerous weapons are still not being properly secured are very worrisome and should be thoroughly investigated,? Mr. Schroeder said. ?In cases where stockpile security is found to be lacking, immediate steps should be taken to correct any deficiencies.?
In Washington, President Obama?s top counterterrorism official, John O. Brennan, said that the spread of shoulder-fired missiles and other weapons from Libya?s arsenal posed ?a lot of concerns,? and that the United States had pressed the rebel government to secure stockpiles of weapons.� ?Obviously, there are a lot of parts of that country right now that are ungoverned,? Mr. Brennan told a security conference.
A senior American military officer who follows Libya closely said it was puzzling there had been so few documented instances of Libyan loyalist troops launching shoulder-fired missiles at NATO aircraft.� �?I?m not sure what that means,? the officer said.� ?Fewer systems than we thought? Systems are inoperable? Few in Libya know how to operate them?� Uncertain, to be sure.?
The officer said it was also unclear whether Al Qaeda or other extremist groups had acquired the missiles, though he said intelligence analysts were assuming so.� �?But if they do, why haven?t they used or threatened to use?? the officer said.� ?It?s all very murky right now.?
On Wednesday, a reporter for The New York Times as well as a researcher for Human Rights Watch and other reporters who visited the scene found 10 crates that had held two missiles each lying opened and empty. The crates were clearly labeled as coming from Russia.
?Other countries know these weapons are on the loose, and they will be trying to get their hands on them,? said a researcher for Human Rights Watch, Peter Bouckaert, of the missiles.
He was particularly concerned with one crate, labeled ?9M342,? which is the Russian designation for the SA-24 heat-seeking missile.
?These were some of the most advanced weaponry the Russians made,? Mr. Bouckaert said. Speaking of the rebels who have taken control of Tripoli as well as the international community, he added: ?They need to get people here to secure some of this.?
Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=6f4a72a40f4bf8d3fadd76819fdc5c10
abc world news now anchors abc world news open abc world news sunday abc world news theme abc world news this morning
No comments:
Post a Comment