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According to reports, the Libyan regime of the late dictator Moammar Gaddafi possessed mustard gas shells that it had not declared as a member of the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the group said on January 20. “At the request of the Libyan authorities the inspectors examined munitions, mainly artillery shells, which they determined are chemical munitions and hence declarable,” the OPCW said. The Gaddafi regime joined the OPCW in 2004 but only destroyed some 45 percent of its declared stocks of chemical weapons before the destruction facility malfunctioned in February 2011, just as the ultimately successful rebellion broke out. 1
In another development, according to reports, US Chairman of the Joints Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey during his first visit to the Jewish state on January 20, urged Israel to keep the channels of communication open amid concerns that the Jewish state could launch a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Dempsey said both sides would benefit from greater engagement over regional issues, in an apparent reference to the Iranian nuclear standoff. This is his first visit to Israel since taking office in October 2011. After talks with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Gen. Dempsey stated, “We have many interests in common in the region in this very dynamic time and the more we can continue to engage each other, the better off we’ll all be,”. Israel fears a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat to the Jewish state and has refused to rule out a resort to military action to pre-empt it, although earlier this week Ehud Barak had said that any such decision remained “very far away.” Reports suggest that Washington is against such a strike, and the U.S. administration is understood to be putting pressure on Israel to hold off. 2
- 1. “Gadhafi Regime Had Undeclared Chemical Weapons, Group Says,” AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, January 20, 2012, at http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120120/DEFREG04/301200004/-1/7daysa...
- 2. “U.S. Military Chief in Israel Amid Iran Tensions,” AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, January 20, 2012, at http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120120/DEFREG04/301200007/-1/7daysa...