Nuclear fuel removed from Libya

Washington, 27 July (AKI) - Three more kilograms of highly enriched uranium have been transported out of Libya, bringing to 20 kilogrammes the total now under international control since the country renounced its nuclear programme in 2003, reports said on Thursday. Russia, the United States and the United Nations' atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were reportedly in charge of the operation.

The latest shipment was part of a process to remove all highly enriched uranium material from Libya, although reports did not say how much was left.

A report on Monday by the Libyan news agency quoted leader Muammar Gaddafi as claiming that Libya was at one point close to building a nuclear bomb, in the first admission by Libya that it had been trying to build an atomic bomb.