MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The fact that Libya has given up pursuing its WMD program has been caused by toppling the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, retired Major General Vladimir Dvorkin, senior advisor of a think-tank, says.
"I believe that Libya has not given up its WMD program for nothing: It has been done for fear of repeating the fate of Iraq," Dvorkin said in the interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station in Moscow on Friday.
According to Dvorkin, Libya's decision to dismantle its WMD program has been taken after the U.S.- and the UK-led operation in Iraq. Dvorkin believes that Libya has had only limited capabilities of developing nuclear arms on its own. "Libya has just one research nuclear reactor, delivered by Soviet Union," Dvorkin said.
At the same time, it is a fact that Libya possesses its own chemical weapons. "The fact that Libya possesses chemical weapons has been registered. Libya employed mustard gas, when bombing Chad," he said.
He said that Libya did possess missile technologies, required to develop WMD delivery means, including missiles, featuring a range of over 1,000 kilometers.
According to Dvorkin, Libyan authorities' statement on giving up the WMD program is a very positive fact. He did not rule out the possibility that the West would try to achieve the same result in Syria.
"The number of potentially dangerous states, which may threaten the use of WMD, is decreasing," Dvorkin said.
According to him, the least progress is maid in North Korea. "North Korea is the primary problem," Dvokrin said, commenting on the statement, made by North Korean authorities with regards to their nuclear program development plans.