13 Commentaires

1. 

   1

   mp

   Dans le Nouvel'Obs on apprend que le Qautar aurait fait une "avance" à l'UE sur le montant de la transaction.

   Mais il semblerait que Khadafi aurait fait monter les enchères avec la France seule. Quoi ? Combien ? pour la belle photo...

   25 juillet 2007 à 09:11
2. 

   2

   Jean-Philippe GREGOIRE

   La Libye a actuellement deux axes forts de développement : l'agriculture, avec le fameux aqueduc souterrain du désert (construit par les français, et qui devrait provoquer un affaissement du niveau du shara de plus de 2 mètres en quelques décennies) et le tourisme, avec les fabulaux sites archéologiques et les treking dans le sud.

   Le reste, c'est du niveau de la part du rêve de Kadhafi. Mais Dieu sait à quoi rêvent les dictateurs...

   N'oublions pas également que les libyens ont un énorme problème d'immigration clandestine, comme tous les pays du Maghreb, et qu'ils ont besoin de la coopération des européens sur ce point.

   25 juillet 2007 à 10:11
3. 

   3

   Elisabeth

   Nuclear Chronology

   1968-1979

   This annotated chronology is based on the data sources that follow each entry. Public sources often provide conflicting information on classified military programs. In some cases we are unable to resolve these discrepancies, in others we have deliberately refrained from doing so to highlight the potential influence of false or misleading information as it appeared over time. In many cases, we are unable to independently verify claims. Hence in reviewing this chronology, readers should take into account the credibility of the sources employed here.

   Inclusion in this chronology does not necessarily indicate that a particular development is of direct or indirect proliferation significance. Some entries provide international or domestic context for technological development and national policymaking. Moreover, some entries may refer to developments with positive consequences for nonproliferation.

   
   18 July 1968
   Under the regime of King Idris al-Sanusi, Libya signs the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
   —Joshua Sinai, "Libya's Pursuit of Weapons of Mass Destruction," The Nonproliferation Review (Spring-Summer 1997), p. 97; Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Inventory of International Nonproliferation Organizations and Regimes (Monterey, CA: CNS, 2000), p. 223.

   1969 to 1975
   In the years between signing the NPT and ratifying it, Libya reportedly purchased several hundred tons of natural uranium from French-controlled mines in neighboring Niger, without subjecting the material to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. Some reports estimate that Libya purchased more than 1,200 tons of yellowcake from Niger.
   —Kenneth Timmerman, Weapons of Mass Destruction: the Cases of Iran, Syria, and Libya (Los Angeles: Simon Wiesenthal Center, August 1992), p. 89.

   1970s
   Libya unsuccessfully attempts to purchase nuclear weapons from China.
   As part of this effort, Qadhdhafi dispatches his second in command, Major Abdelsalam Jalloud, on a series of clandestine trips to China to procure atomic weapons.
   —Joseph Cirincione with Jon B. Wolfsthal and Miriam Rajkumar, Deadly Arsenals, Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2002), p. 307; Anthony Cordesman, Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 15 April 2003; Kenneth Timmerman, Weapons of Mass Destruction: the Cases of Iran, Syria, and Libya (Los Angeles: Simon Wiesenthal Center, August 1992), p. 88.

   1970s
   Libya acquires the 10-megawatt nuclear research reactor at Tajura from the Soviet Union. The reactor operates under IAEA safeguards.
   —Anthony Cordesman, Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 15 April 2003.

   1970s
   Libya cancels plans to build a 440-megawatt, Soviet-supplied reactor near the Gulf of Sidra.
   —Anthony Cordesman, Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 15 April 2003.

   October 1973
   At a secret meeting in Paris, Libya and Pakistan allegedly seal a pact to build an "Islamic Bomb" using Pakistani expertise and Libyan petrodollars. It has never been established whether the nuclear technology Libya acquired was in exchange for the several hundred million dollars it invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons research.
   — Kenneth Timmerman, Weapons of Mass Destruction: the Cases of Iran, Syria, and Libya (Los Angeles: Simon Wiesenthal Center, August 1992), p. 88.

   Late 1973
   Libya attempts to purchase 20 calutrons to enrich uranium from Thomson-CSF. The deal, apparently supported by top company officials, is blocked by the French government because enrichment technology would obviously be of use to an undeclared nuclear weapons program.
   — Kenneth Timmerman, Weapons of Mass Destruction: the Cases of Iran, Syria, and Libya (Los Angeles: Simon Wiesenthal Center, August 1992), p. 89.

   February 1974
   France reportedly discusses with Iraq and Libya the exchange of nuclear reactors for oil.
   —"France Reportedly Discusses Exchange of Nuclear Reactors for Oil from Iraq and Libya," Wall Street Journal Information Bank Abstracts, 15 February 1974.

   January 1975
   Colonel Qadhdhafi announces that he plans to entice Arab scientists away from the United States and other Western countries to help make Libya a nuclear power. A member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council has started making offers to entice scientists to move to Libya.
   —"Libyan Leader Col Muammar el-Qadhdhafi," The New York Times, 14 January 1975.

   April 1975
   In an interview with the Sudanese newspaper As Sahafa, Qadhdhafi hints that he hopes to transform Libya into a nuclear power, saying, "Nuclear weapons are no longer a secret."
   —"Rumors of Libyan Atomic Bomb Quest Raise Fears," Washington Post, 30 July 1979.

   May 1975
   Libyan and Russian officials discuss possible cooperation on peaceful nuclear technology, including building a nuclear power plant in Libya.
   —"Soviet Party Newspaper Pravda Denies Reports in Egyptian Newspaper Al Ahram," The New York Times, 28 May 1975.

   26 May 1975
   Libya ratifies the NPT and declares all its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards.
   —Joshua Sinai, "Libya's Pursuit of Weapons of Mass Destruction," The Nonproliferation Review (Spring-Summer 1997); Anthony Cordesman, Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 15 April 2003.

   June 1975
   Libya and the Soviet Union sign an accord for the establishment of a "center for peaceful purposes in Libya, including a small reactor."
   —"Arab Revolutionary News Agency Reports Libyan Min Omar Abdullah Meheishi," The New York Times, 3 June 1975.

   June 1975
   A US government report alleges that Libya sought to buy nuclear power facilities in the United States but was rebuffed; it then turned to the Soviet Union.
   —"US Officials Report US Govt Has Persuaded Brazil and W Germany," The New York Times, 4 June 1975.

   1976
   Negotiations are held between France and Libya for the purchase of a 600-megawatt reactor. A preliminary agreement in reached, but strong objections from the international community leads France to cancel the project.
   —Frank Barnaby, The Invisible Bomb, The Nuclear Race in the Middle East (London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd. Publishers, 1993), p. 98.

   March 1976
   France and Libya reach an accord on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Libya.
   —"Comment on French Accord to Build Nuclear Power Plant in Libya," The New York Times, 28 March 1976.

   August 1976
   A White House official includes Libya in a list of countries that are "interested in going nuclear."
   —"Ford Administration Officials, Elaborating on Reports that Taiwan has Begun Producing Weapons-Grade Plutonium," The New York Times, 31 August 1976.

   1977
   Cooperation between Libya and Pakistan begins. Libya provides financial assistance to Pakistan and later delivers uranium yellowcake from Niger in the hope that Pakistan will share the results of its nuclear program with Libya.
   — Joseph Cirincione with Jon B. Wolfsthal and Miriam Rajkumar, Miriam, Deadly Arsenals, Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2002), p. 307; Anthony Cordesman, Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 15 April 2003.

   December 1977
   Libya reportedly contracts with the Soviet Union to construct a 440,000-kilowatt nuclear power plant. Libya is to pay $330 million of its oil earnings for the plant.
   —"Libya Said to Buy Soviet A-Power Plant," The Washington Post, 12 December 1977.

   4 October 1978
   Moscow confirms earlier reports that it has agreed to provide Libya with a nuclear power complex.
   —"Nuclear Power Agreements," The Washington Post, 4 October 1978.

   1978
   Libyan emissaries travel to India in an effort to purchase atomic weapons. The Libyans offer to pay India's entire foreign debt (estimated at $15 billion) in exchange for a nuclear weapon. The offer is rejected.
   — Kenneth Timmerman, Weapons of Mass Destruction: the Cases of Iran, Syria, and Libya (Los Angeles: Simon Wiesenthal Center, August 1992), p. 89.

   1979
   Libya's Soviet-supplied research reactor at Tajura begins operation.
   — Joseph Cirincione with Jon B. Wolfsthal and Miriam Rajkumar, Deadly Arsenals, Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2002), p. 307.

   April 1979
   The US government cuts off aid to Pakistan in response to its development of nuclear weapons and reports that Libya and Saudi Arabia helped finance the Pakistan nuclear program in exchange for access to the resultant technology.
   —"Pakistan Denies Trying to Develop Nuclear Weapons," The New York Times, 9 April 1979.

   16 April 1979
   Former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer Cord Meyer alleges that Colonel Qadhdhafi sent aid to China in 1971 in the hope of being able to later purchase nuclear weapons technology from China.
   —"Writer Reports Libya A-Bomb Bid," The Washington Post, 16 April 1979.

   September 1979
   Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq denies that his country is working with Libya to build a nuclear bomb for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
   —"Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq Denies that Pakistan Intends to Make a Nuclear Bomb," The New York Times, 23 September 1979.

   25 November 1979
   The Washington Star reports that Pakistan acquired some 100 tons of yellowcake from Libya. The uranium, which is not subject to IAEA safeguards, was reportedly first purchased from Niger by Libya and then sent to Pakistan.
   —Frank Barnaby, The Invisible Bomb, The Nuclear Race in the Middle East (London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd. Publishers, 1993), p. 104.

   25 juillet 2007 à 10:20
4. 

   4

   Elisabeth

   Pour rappel

   Tajura Nuclear Research Center, 10MW research reactor (supplied by USSR)

   25 juillet 2007 à 10:22
5. 

   5

   Ellisabeth

   Importante affaire entre Areva et Niger ... et la libye, on en reparle

   25 juillet 2007 à 10:23
6. 

   6

   Elisabeth

   Libya

   Early in 2007 it was reported that Libya was seeking an agreement for US assistance in building a nuclear power plant for electricity and desalination. In 2006 an agreement with France was signed for peaceful uses of atomic energy.

   In 2003 Libya had halted a clandestine program developing uranium enrichment capability, and fully opened itself to IAEA inspections.

   Libya has a Russian 10 MW research reactor which is under IAEA safeguards.

   25 juillet 2007 à 10:24
7. 

   7

   Elisabeth

   ou l'on revient sur aide nucléaire dans le médical ...

   
   U.S. denies plan to help Libya develop nuclear power plant
   

   
   The United States said on Tuesday that it has no plan to help Libya with developing a nuclear power plant, although the Libyan government tried to seek U.S. assistance in this regard.

   "There's no formal pending nuclear cooperation agreement with Libya on nuclear power plants or any other nuclear issues," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said at a briefing.

   "We are in discussions with the Libyans regarding a project to help them develop a nuclear medicine center, and that is the only thing you could use the word 'nuclear' in relation to past agreements," Casey said.

   According to media reports, the Libyan government wants to discuss with the United States with the aim of reaching an agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear power.

   Relations between the United States and Libya have improved dramatically since Tripoli agreed in December 2003 to eliminate its chemical and biological weapons, permitting U.S. weapons experts to verify its compliance.

   Moreover, Libya has accepted responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people and agreed to pay compensations to the families of the bombing victims. All these pave the way for the normalization of relations between the two countries.

   Source: Xinhua

   25 juillet 2007 à 10:25
8. 

   8

   Elisabeth

   U.S., Libya negotiating nuclear medicine project
   12 Mar 2007 22:16:54 GMT
   Source: Reuters

   By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent

   WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - The United States is close to reaching an agreement with Libya for cooperation on a nuclear medicine center but for now has no plans for the kind of broad nuclear energy development Tripoli has suggested, a U.S. official said on Monday.

   Libya's official Jana news agency reported earlier on Monday that an agreement between the two countries that would help Libya generate nuclear electricity would be signed shortly.

   But the U.S. official, in an interview with Reuters, said the Jana report "vastly overstates things."

   "What we said to the Libyans after they got rid of their nuclear weapons effort (was) we'd be open to talking to them about some aspects of civilian uses of nuclear power," said the official who works on nonproliferation issues and spoke on condition of anonymity.

   Toward that end, "we talked to them about a nuclear medicine center and we are engaged in serious discussions about our willingness to assist with that project," which would benefit the health of the Libyan people, he said.

   The Jana report said the U.S.-Libya cooperation would include building a nuclear power plant, helping develop water desalination capacity, joint research and technical projects and training Libyan technicians in the United States.

   However an official Libyan source later told journalists in Tripoli that Libya was planning to negotiate an agreement with the United States on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

   The source made no mention of a planned signing of an accord.

   "The Libyan government gave the Foreign Ministry an authorisation to enter negotiations with America to reach an agreement related to the peaceful use of nuclear energy in all fields," the official source said.

   Nuclear medicine uses internally administered radioactive materials, called radioisotopes, to help diagnose and treat a wide variety of diseases. Exact details about the center's cost and specific projects were not immediately available.

   The U.S. official added that the Bush administration had expected the agreement -- negotiated by the State Department and Department of Energy -- to be signed by Libyan authorities late last week and was surprised when it was not.

   LIMITED PLANS

   He said there were no discussions or specific plans to help oil- and gas-exporting Libya develop or benefit from nuclear energy.

   A State Department deputy spokesman, Tom Casey, told a news briefing, "I'm certainly aware of no plans for the United States to participate in nuclear programs with Libya."

   Libya in 2003 ended years of international estrangement by accepting responsibility and starting to pay compensation for the bombing of airliners over Scotland and Niger in 1988 and 1989.

   It also promised to give up nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and has followed through on those promises. But Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said at the time he still hoped to develop a nuclear program for peaceful purposes.

   Washington has voiced hopes that Iran and North Korea will follow Libya's example.

   On March 3 Gaddafi renewed a recent complaint that Western countries had failed to properly compensate Libya for scrapping its nuclear arms program and as a result countries like Iran and North Korea would not follow his lead.

   The U.S. official interviewed by Reuters said that nuclear energy cooperation could be explored in the future but is more likely to involve construction of nuclear power-generating plants in neighboring Egypt, a long-time U.S. ally, with the power shared on a grid across country boundaries with Libya.

   Talk of nuclear energy cooperation is "very premature," he said, adding: "The only thing of any concrete nature that we discussed with the Libyans that I'm aware of is the nuclear medicine center."

   25 juillet 2007 à 10:28
9. 

   9

   TAjura

   Research ReactorsName: Tajura Research Reactor, IRT-1, Tajoura Research ReactorFunction: Research reactor; production of isotopes for use in medicine and agriculture.
   Description: The Soviet-designed Tajura Research Reactor, located at the Tajoura Nuclear Research Center, is a 10 MW reactor, although this level of performance was only reached a few times. Normal operation was at 5MW. It is a light water-cooled and moderated, beryllium-reflected reactor. Construction began in 1977, and operations commenced in 1981. Support from the Soviet Union was discontinued in 1991. Since then the reactor has been managed by local staff, but operation has been intermittent. In 1998, Russia signed a contract for the reconstruction of critical networks at the facility.
   The reactor uses IRT-2 type fuel. This is a “rectangular aluminum cladded sandwich fuel,” consisting of an alloy of 80% enriched uranium and aluminum. The reactor has 16 uranium-aluminum fuel assemblies composed of four long concentric boxes.(4)
   The reactor is used for isotope production and for fundamental and applied research in nuclear, plasma, radiation physics and chemistry. The research reactor has a high enough neutron flux to produce many useful radioisotopes. The Tajura Nuclear Research Center (TNRC), which houses the reactor, also has a hot cells facility, which is capable of producing Tc-99m (for use in Libya’s two nuclear medicine centers) “using the neutron capture reaction on natural molybdenum in the Tajoura reactor and the hot cell facilities. The [TNRC] has a solvent extraction system for separating Tc-99m from Mo-99 and would like to supply Tc-99m labelled radiopharmaceuticals to local hospitals.”(5)
   Name: Libtor Tokamak, TM4-AFunction: Research reactor
   The Libtor tokamak, located at Tajoura Nuclear Research Center, is a zero-power critical reactor, which was described by Tajoura Nuclear Research Center’s (TNRC) staff as a “one-on-one mockup of the research reactor, presumably the 10MW research reactor, also located at TNRC. The tokamak’s thermal neutron flux is 2.2x10^14, and has 16 uranium-aluminum fuel assemblies composed of four long concentric boxes.(6)
   Research and DevelopmentName: Tajoura Nuclear Research Center, Tajura, TNRCFunction: Develop and promote applications of nuclear sciences
   The Tajoura Nuclear Research Center (TNRC) was established with the help of the Soviet Union in 1982 with a stated purpose of “solv[ing] problems of economic significance to the country via peaceful application of atomic energy.”(7) The facility encompasses an area of 700 square meters and is comprised of six buildings. TNRC’s present activities include fundamental and applied research and training in the field of nuclear science and engineering. Visitors to TNRC described the Center’s equipment in 1984 as “state-of-the-art,” however they noted “the Libyans do not always know why they are doing a given experiment, and that the Russians appear to have withheld some basic information about the equipment.”(8)
   At the heart of TNRC’s activities is the 10MW pool-type research reactor, used for isotope production and nuclear research. In addition to the 10MW reactor, TNRC houses a “critical facility,” which presumably includes a critical assembly, a neutron generator complex, and a TM4-A Tokamak. Other facilities at the Center include radiochemical laboratories for the production of isotopes, nuclear metallurgy laboratory, featuring a Russian 50-to-100 kV electron microscope and a U.S. Instron device for measuring material stress, a physical research facility, which is comprised of laboratories for nuclear physics, solid-state physics, neutron physics, material science and engineering, radiation biophysics, mass spectrometry, activation analysis, and physical research using the neutron generator. In addition to research laboratories, TNRC is equipped with support facilities, such as computers and electronic workshops, machine shops and test laboratories.(9)
   Since the suspension of U.N. sanctions in 1999, Russia has revived negotiations with Libya to modernize TNRC and the 10MW research reactor located there.

   25 juillet 2007 à 10:32
10. 

    10

    mp

    Volets secrets de l'accord Sarkozy-Kadhafi...
    25/07/2007-10h11 - Hervé Gattegno - Rubrique coordonnée par Irène Inchauspé - © Le Point.fr

    L’accord conclu entre Paris et Tripoli pour la libération des infirmières bulgares comporte deux clauses politiques de première importance, que Nicolas Sarkozy pourrait annoncer au cours de sa visite officielle en Libye, aujourd’hui.

    Selon des sources proches des négociations, le chef de l’Etat s’est engagé à apporter le soutien de la France à l’entrée de la Libye dans la zone CFA, qui officialisera son retour « dans le concert international », selon l’expression qu’il a employée mardi, en même temps qu’elle renforcera la position du colonel Kadhafi sur le continent africain.

    Un protocole d’accord prévoit, en outre, un « partenariat stratégique » entre les deux pays, qui inclut un accord militaire en vertu duquel la France offrirait sa protection à la Libye en cas d’agression de son territoire. Ces détails seront développés dans le numéro du "Point" à paraître demain jeudi 26 juillet.

    
    Et la tournée galette se poursuivra au Congo et au Sénégal

    25 juillet 2007 à 13:39
11. 

    11

    Elisabeth

    Tiens, tiens ...

    
    pour rappel ..

    Libye : EADS et Dassault pour l'armée ?

    25 juillet 2007 à 17:48
12. 

    12

    Elisabeth Studer

    Merci à nos lecteurs de faire ressortir les dossiers genants ...

    11 mars 2011 à 20:46
13. 

    13

    Elisabeth. S.

    désolée pour les accents, c'est une grosse galère liée à changement de serveur il y a quelques mois, je reprends les articles un par un ...

    11 mars 2011 à 21:04