US tries to track Qaddafi weapons stockpiles

Eli Lake:

U.S. military, intelligence and diplomatic agencies are quietly making plans to secure elements of Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s expansive arsenal of weapons as his regime nears collapse and is under fire from rebels seeking to expand control over the Libyan capital.

The government is concerned that conventional weapons, such as SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles, which can be used to shoot down aircraft, could get in the wrong hands.

The government also is monitoring Col. Gadhafi’s stocks of chemical weapons, estimated to include between 10 tons and 14 tons of mustard gas and also uranium ore, U.S. government spokesmen said Wednesday.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday that the Soviet-made 1970s-era surface-to-air missile launcher known as the SA-7 would “remain a concern because of [its] portability.”

News reports Wednesday from Libya said the rebel coalition had placed a price on the head of Col. Gadhafi. The Libyan opposition confederation, known as the Transitional National Council, also urged the international community to release Libya’s frozen assets held by foreign banks.

The State Department this year hired the MAGAmerica, or the Mines Advisory Group, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization that specializes in the disposal of ordnance, to monitor and dispose of some conventional arms stockpiles in Libya. A team from the group arrived in the country in April and began training fighters provided by rebel groups for on-the-ground assessments.

...

The experience in Iraq shows that tracing these weapons is difficult. Usually the first priority is finding and destroying the fighters. The weapons clean up follows. With Qaddafi on the run, finding him is likely to be the first priority.