One of the two rival camps in a Libya in chaos announced on Thursday (March 16th) that it had found containers containing about 2.5 tons of natural uranium, reported as missing by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
General Khaled al-Mahjoub, commander of the communications directorate of eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) forces' strongman Khalifa Haftar, said on Facebook that the containers had been found "barely five kilometers" from the site where they were stored in the southern Sebha region.
He released a video showing a man wearing a protective suit counting, in English, 18 barrels of blue color, or all the uranium that was stored at the site. "The situation is under control. The IAEA has been informed," General Mahjoub told AFP.
"We are aware of press reports that the material has been recovered and the Agency is actively trying to verify it," the IAEA said in Vienna.
On Wednesday, the IAEA reported the disappearance of about 2.5 tons of natural uranium from a site in Libya, according to a statement sent to AFP. During a visit on Tuesday, inspectors from the UN body "discovered that 10 containers with about 2.5 tons of natural uranium in the form of uranium concentrate (UOC, also known as "yellow cake") were not present where they had been declared by the authorities," Director General Rafael Grossi wrote in a report to member states.
"Significant risks"
The risks of the disappearance of this uranium are "limited but not negligible", said a Western diplomat in Vienna at the time. "The disappearance of nuclear materials poses a problem of safeguards and nuclear security, especially since the site is not under the control of the regulatory authority in Libya," the source said.
General Mahjoub said on Facebook that after the containers disappeared during a visit by IAEA inspectors, "an LNA force found them barely five km from the depot towards the Chadian border". He said the containers had been stolen before being abandoned "by a Chadian faction, believing that they were weapons or ammunition".
Claiming that personnel monitoring the site were stationed at a certain distance to avoid exposure to radiation, General Mahjoub called on the IAEA to provide them with the necessary protective equipment so that they could monitor it more closely. "Ensuring the protection of such a site requires a major international effort" to avoid theft and trafficking to neighboring countries, said a security source in Marshal Haftar's camp.
Taking advantage of the chaos and porous borders, several Chadian and Sudanese factions have established their rear bases in southern Libya, neighbouring their countries, to engage in various trafficking. Libya has been going through a major political crisis since the 2011 uprising that brought down Muammar Gaddafi after 42 years of dictatorship.
Two governments are vying for power, one installed in Tripoli (west) and recognized by the UN and the other based in the east and supported by the camp of Marshal Haftar and Parliament.
With AFP
The summary of the week France 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news with you everywhere! Download the France 24 app