Libya

:This article is about Libya, the country in North Africa. For the mythical character of the same name see: Libya (mythology).

Politics

Main article: Politics of Libya

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The Libyan system of government is quite unusual. Qadhafi claims that Libya is a "pure socialist state", and as such the formal institutions of government are purposely quite vague. Qadhafi himself is not even technically the "President" or "Prime Minister" of the country, and instead describes himself as a sort of "guide" or a "leader" to help the Libyan people in socialism. To most people around the world, he is simply referred to as "Colonel Qadhafi". Libya has no constitution, and the laws of the land come from Islamic law, and Qadhafi's Green Book of political philosophy. The government is called a "jamahiriya", a modification of the Arabic word "jumhuriya" (republic) that translates loosely as "people's state."

Related Topics:
Socialist - Constitution - Islamic law - Green Book - "jamahiriya"

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In practice, however, Libya is essentially a dictatorship, with Qadhafi ruling by decree, assisted by a small clique of military and political officials. Libya has been accused of widespread human rights abuses and state sponsored terrorism.

Related Topics:
Dictatorship - Ruling by decree - Human rights - State sponsored terrorism

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On 19 December 2003, Libya admitted having had a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program and simultaneously announced its intention to end it and dismantle all existing WMDs, to be verified by unconditional inspections. Libya also agreed to limit its long range missiles to 300 km. Some of the WMD included mustard gas, which was hidden in a turkey farm. The announcement came after clandestine diplomatic negotiations with the United Kingdom and United States since March 2003.

Related Topics:
19 December - 2003 - Weapons of mass destruction - Mustard gas - Turkey - United Kingdom - United States

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About that same time, Libya was also caught secretly passing nuclear technology, originally from North Korea, to other countries. Furthermore, Pakistan and China were mentioned as contributors to the programs. Egypt previously had obtained technology directly from Pyongyang, officials said, but the U.S. blocked a shipment of missiles in 2001. Nevertheless, as the House subcommittee on terrorism learned a year later, Egypt had received 24 No-Dong missile engines from North Korea.

Related Topics:
North Korea - Pakistan - China - Egypt - Pyongyang

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"We are still trying to understand the network, to see if other countries have received the technology, the weapons designs," IAEA director-general Mohamed El Baradei, who did not cite Egypt, said during a visit to Libya February 23, 2004. "This is of course an important and urgent concern for us." On March 7, 2004, the White House confirmed that the last of Libya's nuclear weapons-related equipment had been sent to the United States.

Related Topics:
February 23 - March 7 - 2004 - White House - Nuclear weapons - United States

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