Disarmament of Libya The Libyan disarmament issue was peacefully resolved on December 2003 when Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi retroactively agreed to rollback his country ' s weapons of mass destruction program and the decades - old approach of active nuclear weapons program . In 1968 , Libya became signatory of Nuclear Non - Proliferation Treaty ( NPT ) , ratified the treaty in 1975 , and concluded a safeguards agreement in 1980 . Despite its commitment to NPT , there are reports indicated that Muammar Gaddafi of Libya made unsuccessful attempts for either attempting to build or entered in an agreement to purchase a nuclear weapon from nuclear - armed nations . In 1970s – 80s , Gaddafi made numerous attempts to accelerated and pushed forward his ambitions for an active nuclear weapons program , using the nuclear black market sources . However , after the end of Cold war in 1991 , Gaddafi sought to resolve its nuclear crises with the United States aiming to uplift the sanctions against Libya , finally agreeing to authorize to rollback Libya ' s weapons of mass destruction program on December 2003 . As of 2013 , over 800 tons of chemical weapons ingredients remain to be destroyed ; full destruction is scheduled to be completed by 2016 . Precursor events . According to Clinton administration diplomat Martin Indyk , Muammar Gaddafi sought more respectability as early as the start of Bill Clinton ' s Presidency , in the early 1990s . According to an article written by Indyk in 2004 , by the 1990s , Gaddafi gave up on supporting various Pan - Arab and African movements and instead began focusing on getting sanctions on Libya removed . Indyk stated that Gaddafi offered to give up his weapons of mass destruction ( WMDs ) and open his facilities to inspection in 1999 in ( then - ) secret talks with the Bill Clinton administration . According to Gaddafi ' s former Foreign Minister , Abdel Rahman Shalgham , the event which ultimately caused Gaddafi to give up his WMDs and nuclear weapons program was a reported 2001 message from U . S . President George W . Bush which told Gaddafi that “ either you get rid of your weapons of mass destruction or [ the United States ] will personally destroy them and destroy everything with no discussion . ” Libyan officials began to meet covertly with British , Russian , and U . S . officials to officially dismantle the program . In March 2003 , days before the invasion of Iraq , Gaddafi ' s personal envoys contacted U . S . President George W . Bush , Russian President Vladimir Putin , and British Prime Minister Tony Blair about Libya ' s willingness to dismantle its nuclear program . Subsequently , at Gaddafi ' s direction , Libyan officials provided British , Russian , and U . S . diplomats with documentation and additional details on Libya ' s chemical , biological , nuclear , and ballistic missile activities . Libya reportedly allowed Russian , U . S . , and British officials to visit 10 previously secret sites and dozens of Libyan laboratories and military factories to search for evidence of nuclear fuel cycle - related activities , and for chemical and missile programs . In October 2003 , U . S . intelligence agencies raided a cargo ship and seized a consignment of centrifuge - related equipment bound for Libya in a northern Mediterranean port . The U . S . investigations revealed that many of these components were manufactured by the Scomi Precision Engineering facility in Malaysia and were produced under the technical guidance of Dr . A . Q . Khan and various nationals from the United Kingdom , Germany and Switzerland . After the news became public , Libyan nuclear ambitions were cooled and demoralized . Disarmament . The 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States were prudently denounced by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi . Following the U . S . military response in the Afghanistan war theater , Gaddafi increasingly desired to normalize foreign relations with the United States , initially focusing on uplifting and termination of U . S . sanctions on Libya . On 19 December 2003 , Gaddafi made a surprise announcement about his intentions to dismantle the Libya ' s WMDs program . Following the announcement , Libya agreed to destruct all of its chemical , nuclear , and biological weapons stockpiles . The Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials were quoted " Libya had bought nuclear components from various black market dealers " , and provided the various designs of centrifuges to U . S . officials and gave the name of its suppliers . Among the list of suppliers included the revealing role of dr . A . Q . Khan , a notable and famed scientist of Pakistan . Events in Libya led to the debriefing of A . Q . Khan in 2004 by the Government of Pakistan while the United States , aided by IAEA and Interpol , apprehended the former Libyan nuclear program ' s head and Swiss , Friedrich Tinner in Switzerland . On 22 January 2004 , U . S . military transport planes carried around of documents and equipments related to Libya ' s nuclear and ballistic missile programs to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory ( ORNL ) in Tennessee . On March 2004 , over 1 , 000 additional centrifuge and missile parts were shipped out of Libya . At the time of Libya ' s nuclear disarmament , its nuclear program was in the very initial stages of development . The Director - General of the IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei stated to the media that it was his " " gut feeling " " that Libya was three to seven years from successfully building a nuclear weapon . Aftermath . Libya ' s decision was praised by many in the West but criticized by many in the Arab world . In 2004 , Paula DeSutter , the - then United States Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance stated that “ we want to have lessons learned from [ Libya ' s disarmament ] because we want Libya to be a model for other countries . ” Some prominent politicians and diplomats hoped that Iran , North Korea , and Syria would decide to follow the Libyan model of disarmament . Gaddafi stated that the West asked him on several occasions to advise Iran and North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons programs . In contrast , many participants on Al Jazeera TV criticized Gaddafi for agreeing to disarm just days after Gaddafi made his decision . Gaddafi was criticized by some Arabs for giving Israel a stronger strategic edge in the region , giving legitimacy to the U . S . doctrine of preemptive war , and for not getting security concessions for Libya and the Arab world in exchange for his disarmament . In response , the Libyan government and its supporters stated that Libya returned to the international community , got a temporary United Nations Security Council seat , and saved some money due to it giving up its nuclear weapons program . Likewise , in an Al - Sharq al - Awsat interview , Gaddafi ' s son Saif al - Islam stated that the United States " did " offer security guarantees for Libya in exchange for dismantling its nuclear program and that he expected military and security cooperation agreements with the U . S . in the future . Eventually Gaddafi grew disillusioned with the things that the West offered Libya . He considered it too small of a reward for Libya for giving up its nuclear weapons program . Gaddafi was also dissatisfied at the United States ' slowness in normalizing relations with Libya and in pressuring Israel to denuclearize . According to Gaddafi ' s son Saif , this was one the main reasons why Gaddafi temporarily suspended shipping Libya ' s enriched uranium abroad in 2009 like he promised he would in 2003 . Gaddafi wanted to use the remains of his nuclear weapons program to gain more leverage . As of September 2013 , 1 . 6 metric tons of mustard blister agent loaded in artillery rounds , 2 . 5 metric tons of congealed mustard agent , and 846 metric tons of chemical weapons ingredients remain to be destroyed . Arab Spring and NATO intervention . During the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya , Gaddafi tried using Libya ' s voluntary disarmament to convince NATO to cease its Libya operations . At the same time , Gaddafi ' s son Saif and others in the Libyan government expressed their regret about Libya ' s previous disarmament . It was speculated in the media ( especially in the Middle Eastern media ) that NATO ' s 2011 intervention in Libya ( which led to Gaddafi ' s overthrow and killing at the hands of the Libyan rebels ) would make Iran , North Korea , and possibly other countries more reluctant to give up their nuclear programs and / or nuclear weapons due to the risk of being weakened and / or double - crossed as a result . On 22 September 2011 , near Sabha , Libya , toward the end of the Libyan civil war , anti - Gaddafi forces discovered two warehouses containing thousands of blue barrels marked with tape reading " radioactive " and plastic bags of yellow powder sealed with the same tape . The IAEA stated , " We can confirm that there is yellowcake stored in drums at a site near Sabha . . . which Libya previously declared to the IAEA . . . . The IAEA has tentatively scheduled safeguards activities at this location once the situation in the country stabilises . "