Tripoli (Libya), Dec 29: The UN nuclear chief said today that his visits to four once-secret nuclear sites proved Libya had been in the early stages of a weapons programme before it dismantled its efforts, and said the equipment and technology had come from a number of countries. ``What we have seen is a program in the very initial stages of development,'' Mohammed Elbaradei told reporters. ``We haven't seen any industrial-scale facility to produce highly enriched uranium; we haven't seen any enriched uranium'' _ the material needed for developing nuclear weapons. Elbaradei and his team of experts visited four previously unmentioned nuclear sites in and around Tripoli yesterday, and he said all the equipment had been dismantled and boxed up. The inspections follow leader Moammar Gadhafi's decision to abandon his country's attempts to produce weapons of mass destruction. Elbaradei said the origins of Libya's technology would easily be identified ``as they were of a familiar design.''

He suggested a ``sophisticated network'' was behind the technology: ``a number of different people in a number of different places, a network which you can call a cartel but not necessarily with the knowledge of a particular country or countries. It has been across many countries in the world.''
Elbaradei had said earlier that Libya received its weapons equipment "through the black market and middle people".
He declined today to reveal the number or names of Libyan scientists or whether they received training in Europe or the United States but said they were ``Well competent scientists.''
Bureau Report