2.5 tons of uranium disappeared from a site in Libya, finds the International Atomic Energy Agency

A disturbing disappearance. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported Wednesday, March 15, the disappearance of about 2.5 tons of natural uranium from a site in Libya. During a visit on Tuesday, inspectors from the UN body “discovered that 10 containers with approximately 2.5 tons of natural uranium in the form of uranium concentrate were not present where they had been declared by the authorities”Director General Rafael Grossi wrote in a report to member states.

The IAEA specifies that it will carry out checks “complementary” For “clarify the circumstances of the disappearance of this nuclear material and its current location”. No details are given on the site in question.

Libya no longer has a nuclear weapons development program

Libya abandoned its nuclear weapons development program in 2003 under the aegis of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Since its fall in 2011 after 42 years of dictatorship, the country has been mired in a major political crisis, with rival powers based in East and West, a myriad of militias, mercenaries scattered around the country, against a backdrop of foreign interference. Two governments are vying for power, one based in Tripoli (west) and recognized by the UN, the other supported by the strongman of eastern Libya, Marshal Khalifa Haftar.